The Tragedy of Oedipus - (1)
In Thebes, the only state in this world that houses the temple of Hades, a heavy shadow has been cast over what seemed to be a peaceful land...
It all began when a prophecy was delivered to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. According to the oracle from the Temple of Delphi:
"Your son will kill his father and lie with his mother."
Upon hearing this prophecy, King Laius was horrified.
A prophecy that foretold his son would kill him and lie with his wife. King Laius secretly summoned a shepherd.
"Take this newborn to a place where no one knows and quietly kill him." "What...? But, Your Majesty, this is your son..." "Son or not, I cannot allow him to live if he is to kill me and lie with my wife."
Thus, the shepherd took the newborn and left Thebes. He headed to a quiet place with the child.
However, wracked with guilt over killing a newborn, the shepherd wavered. At that moment, a passing couple noticed him.
"Hey there, what are you planning to do with that child?" "Well... you see..." "If you're struggling to raise the child, leave him with us. We happen to be without a child ourselves. And since his feet are swollen, why don't we name him Oedipus (Swollen Foot)..."
The couple turned out to be the king and queen of Corinth, who had been yearning for a child. And so, Oedipus became the son of King Polybus of Corinth.
Years later, as a grown man, Oedipus heard a shocking story from Polybus's brother during a royal banquet. Though the speaker was drunk on wine...
"Hic... You are not my brother’s real son, Oedipus." "What do you mean, uncle...?" "I mean, you're the child my brother and his wife received from a shepherd... Hic!"
Shocked by these words, Oedipus decided to visit Delphi to seek the truth from the oracle of Apollo, the god of prophecy.
"You will kill your father and lie with your mother."
However, the prophecy did not clarify whether he was their biological son, only predicting the tragedy that awaited Oedipus.
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Believing that his adoptive parents were the father and mother referred to in the prophecy, Oedipus left Corinth in the dead of night. He thought that by leaving Corinth, where his adoptive parents ruled as king and queen, he could avoid the prophecy.
But...
In a narrow alleyway, Oedipus encountered a group of people, and an argument ensued. The driver of a carriage, seeing Oedipus in humble attire, demanded that he make way.
"How do you expect me to move aside in such a narrow alley?" "Ha! Do you know who is riding in this carriage?" "I suppose it’s some noble, but it's disgraceful to act so arrogantly just because of status." "How dare you! The person in this carriage is a king!"
Oedipus laughed at the driver. What kind of mad king would wander outside the palace, especially beyond the city walls, where the lands are nearly lawless?
In the mythic age, the lands beyond city walls were almost lawless territories, full of centaurs, nymphs, various monsters, and rampant with bandits and thieves.
"If the person inside is truly a king, then I am a prince of Corinth!" "What?!"
At that moment, someone inside the carriage, hearing the conversation, extended a hand and lashed a whip. The long whip struck Oedipus on the head, knocking him down.
"Ugh!" "How dare a commoner be so insolent. Move out of the way if you don't want to die." "Fine, let's see how you like this!"
Enraged, Oedipus drew his sword and killed the guards as well as the person inside the carriage, leaving only the driver to barely escape with his life.
But the person inside the carriage was none other than King Laius, who was on his way to consult the oracle about a monster called the Sphinx that had appeared in Thebes.
Oedipus had, according to the prophecy, killed his own father.
Continuing his journey, Oedipus eventually arrived in Thebes, where he heard a story.
"They say that the monster Sphinx is still blocking the road and causing havoc." "Ah, that one who devours anyone who can't answer its four riddles?" "The widowed Queen Jocasta has announced that she will marry whoever can get rid of the Sphinx." "If I answer the Sphinx’s riddles, I could become the king of Thebes?" "Already dozens have gone to the grave because of it..."
Oedipus asked for directions and headed to the place where the Sphinx appeared. Upon arrival, he indeed encountered a large monster with the body of a lion and the head of a human.
He immediately challenged the monster.
"Oh ho... a challenger? If you fail to answer my four riddles, I will devour you." "Just ask your riddles, monster."
"There are two sisters who give birth to each other. What are they?" "Day and night."
"It grows larger in the morning, shrinks at noon, starts growing again in the afternoon, and disappears at night. What is it?" "A shadow."
"What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?" "A human."
Oedipus quickly answered three riddles in a row. The Sphinx, a massive creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human, bared its teeth and growled.
But the last riddle will be impossible to solve!
"Which god do mortals fear the most but also seek the most grace from?"
Oedipus pondered for a moment. Many gods inspire both fear and desire in humans.
Zeus's lightning is fearsome, yet everyone prays for the blessings of the sky. Hera is the goddess of marriage and family but is vengeful toward infidelity... Artemis is the goddess of the hunt but also the bringer of plagues...
Many gods possess such duality. However, this monster appeared near Thebes. The gods most venerated in Thebes are Dionysus, the god of wine and madness, and...
"The god of the underworld and mercy, Pluto." "Rrghhh!!!"
The correct answer to the last riddle was... The god of the underworld whom everyone fears but who also shows mercy to the living, Pluto. Anyone could have known just by seeing the mint, Pluto's symbol, growing all over Thebes.
"Rrghh! How could I... lose to such a man?!"
The Sphinx, overwhelmed by shame, threw itself off a cliff and died. Oedipus then married Queen Jocasta, his biological mother, and became the king of Thebes.
The prophecy had come true in its entirety.
As king of Thebes, Oedipus ruled wisely, bringing prosperity to the city. He and Queen Jocasta, who maintained her youth thanks to the Necklace of Harmonia, a treasure of the Theban royal family, even had children together.
However, one day, a plague began to spread in Thebes.
"Oedipus, your majesty! Today, dozens more have died from the plague!" "Gather the dead and cremate them with mint leaves. Separate the sick from the rest of the populace..." "The plague is growing worse. Perhaps we should seek an oracle from Delphi?" "Hah..."
Despite Oedipus taking every possible measure, the plague only intensified. Eventually, he sent Jocasta's brother, Creon, to receive an oracle. According to the priest of Delphi...
The plague will not end until the parricide who killed his father and married his mother is punished.
Upon hearing this, Oedipus was enraged.
"Such a wretch exists! When I find him, I will blind him myself!"
And so, Oedipus summoned the blind prophet Tiresias to help him find the parricide.
Tiresias was once cursed by Hera to become a woman after killing a pair of mating snakes. After living as a woman for seven years, Tiresias killed another snake and was transformed back into a man.
Having lived both as a man and a woman, Tiresias was summoned by Zeus and Hera to resolve their dispute...
"Tiresias, since you have lived as both a man and a woman, you can judge correctly. Which is stronger, the pleasure of a man or a woman?" "What do you wish to know from me, divine ones?" "You have lived both lives and can judge fairly. Whose orgasm is stronger, a man’s or a woman’s?" "That is..."
After thinking for a moment, Tiresias answered.
"If a man's orgasm is one, a woman's is nine." "Hahaha! Hera! I was right, wasn’t I?" "Urgh..."
For this answer, Hera cursed Tiresias with blindness. However, Zeus, feeling pity for him, granted Tiresias the gift of prophecy and a long life.
In any case, when Tiresias met Oedipus alone, he immediately understood everything. After sighing deeply for a long time, the weary prophet finally spoke.
"The parricide... is none other than you, your majesty. You are the son of the late King Laius and the one who married his widow."
"Wha... what?!"
Had Oedipus been a foolish man, he would have chased the prophet away in anger. But Oedipus was a wise king who had won a battle of wits with the Sphinx.
'The words of a prophet gifted with foresight cannot be false. He is risking his life to tell me this. How can it be a lie?'
The expression on Oedipus’s face grew increasingly distorted as confusion took over.
"He speaks with the knowledge that I could kill him for such words. How could it be false!"
"Ugh... Ugh! Aaaahhh!!!"
Bang!
"Your... your majesty?! What happened with the prophet...?!" "Is it true...?"
And then, the prophecy of the priestess at Delphi flashed through his mind.
"You will kill your father and lie with your mother."
Oedipus immediately mounted his horse and rode out of Thebes. He was consumed by self-loathing, fury, and despair. All these emotions overwhelmed him.
The wife he loved was his mother! He was a parricide who killed his own father! Because of him, the plague was ravaging Thebes, killing countless citizens!
"Ahhh!! Damn it! Damn it all!!"
Oedipus rode furiously to the mountains until he could no longer feel any sign of life. Trembling with rage, he clenched his fists and raised them to his eyes.
He was determined to fulfill his vow to blind the parricide.
At that moment,
"Alas... a mortal is suffering due to Ares’s curse..."
Just as Oedipus was about to gouge out his own eyes, he froze at the sudden sound of an old woman's voice.