Laius and Jocasta were both warned by the Oracle at Delphi
(consulting Apollo) that their child would one day grow up, kill his father, and marry
his mother. In order to escape this fate, Laius and Jocasta bind the ankles of their
son when he is but a baby, and abandon him on top of a mountain. The baby, Oedipus, is
saved and brought to the king and queen of Corinth who raise him as their
own.
Many years later, the teenaged Oedipus hears of his
original fate, and leaves his home in anger, an attempt to avoid the tragedy. At the
same time, Laius has received omens that his son might return to kill him. Therefore,
he is traveling to consult the Oracle at Delphi concerning these omens. On this journey
he happens to run into Oedipus at a crossroads. Both father and son likely display a
similar attitude of anger and arrogance. Neither will yield to the other and, as the
story goes, Oedipus kills Laius, securing his original fate in a remarkably ironic
moment of running in to one another.
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