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A shepherd who is also a trusted servant to the Theban royal family is the sole Survivor from the fight that results in Theban King Laius' death. This shepherd therefore is witness to actions that bring Theban King Oedipus closer and closer to his predicted fate.

In the first instance, the shepherd receives the three day old Oedipus from Theban Queen Jocasta. Jocasta is told by her husband, Laius, to kill the baby. But Jocasta can't bear to do the dastardly deed herself. Instead, she gives her baby over for the shepherd to kill. But the shepherd can't bring himself to be a child killer either. He ultimately hands the baby over to another shepherd who gives the child to the childless royal couple of Corinth, King Polybus and Queen Merope.

In the second instance, Oedipus is forced into a street brawl over a right-of-way at a crossroads where three paths meet. He's outnumbered in a struggle against five people. But Oedipus and the shepherd end up as the sole survivors. In the course of that battle, Oedipus lives by killing, unknowingly and in self defense, Laius, who is both his father and his king.

And so Oedipus is ready for the fourth in the series of decisions that lead him inexorably to his predicted fate. The first step is Jocasta's decision not to kill her son, but to trust that others will. The second step is Oedipus' decision to flee what he mistakenly thinks is his home in Corinth. The third step is his father's murder. And the fourth step is his marriage with his own mother.

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Related Questions

Why does Oedipus look for the muderer of king laius?

Oedipus does not realize that he killed king Laius and that king Laius was his father.


How does Oedipus discover who Laius' murderer is in 'Oedipus Rex'?

It is in interrogating the Theban shepherd that Oedipus discovers who Laius' murderer is in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus hears from his wife Queen Jocasta that there is one survivor to the murderous attack on her first husband King Laius and his escort party. He learns that the individual is her most trusted servant and now lives as a shepherd outside Thebes. Oedipus meets with the shepherd who under questioning identifies the identity of Laius' killer.


What happens to the sole survivor of the attack on King Laius in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Job transfer outside Thebes is what happens to the sole survivor of the attack on Laius in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta's most trusted servant is the only one of King Laius' party to leave the Delphi-Daulia crossroads alive. He gets back to Thebes and finds the widowed Jocasta already enamored with Oedipus. The servant asks to be released from palace service and be allowed to go back to shepherding outside Thebes.


What does Oedipus know in the first half of 'Oedipus Rex'?

That a pestilence afflicts Thebes, that the cause is Laius' unsolved murder and that he himself may be a murder suspect is what Oedipus knows in the first half of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus knows that the death place of his royal predecessor, King Laius, is the same as where he himself commits a crime at about the same time. He knows that Laius resembles one of Oedipus' murder victims. He knows that the sole survivor of the attack leading to Laius' death can be brought in for questioning. He knows that Teiresias the blind prophet accuses him of being Laius' killer.


Who is laius' father?

Laius was father of Oedipus by Jocasta and the son of king Labdacus of Thebes.


What happened to king laius in the Oedipus story?

Oedipus killed Laius years ago at the crossroads. He did not know Laius was his biological father and the king of Thebes.


In Oedipus the king how did laius die?

Oedipus kills him.


Who was king before Oedipus?

it was king Laius, Oedipus' real father.


How does Jocasta respond to Oedipus' suspicion of his own guilt in 'Oedipus Rex'?

It is with disbelief and with the presentation of contrary evidence that Jocasta responds to Oedipus' suspicion that he may be guilty in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet accuses Theban King Oedipus of killing King Laius. Oedipus does not see how he can be guilty when he does not remember ever meeting his royal predecessor. But he finds that the crime scene for Laius is the same as where he himself is a murderer just before settling in Thebes. Queen Jocasta, his wife and Laius' widow, observes that a group of people killed Laius whereas Oedipus acted alone in his crime. She then sends for the sole survivor from the attack that leaves Laius and four others dead.


What happened to king laius?

Laius was killed by his son Oedipus.


What happened to Laius the king?

Laius was killed by his son Oedipus.


What is the point of the attack in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Right of way in an intersection is the point of the attack in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Laius enters the Delphi-Daulia intersection from the Theban side. Oedipus enters from the Delphi side. Laius's charioteer jostles Oedipus, who then is hit on the head with Laius' double whip. Laius takes away Oedipus' right of way because he considers it his due as a royal.