What is the final puzzle piece provided by the shepherd in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Answer 1

Oedipus' parentage is the final puzzle piece provided by the shepherd in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Corinthian messenger and the Theban shepherd hold the pieces to the puzzle of Theban King's Oedipus. The Corinthian messenger is a shepherd who comes from Corinth to tend his flocks outside Thebes at the time of Oedipus' birth. He knows that Oedipus is not the biological son of Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope. His colleague, the Theban shepherd, knows that Oedipus is the biological son of Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta and the killer of Laius, who therefore is both Oedipus' father and sovereign.