Warned by an oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus fled his childhood home hoping to protect Polypus and Merope, his supposed parents. Alas! If only he had been told that he was in fact the son of Laius! Unaware of the unfolding tragedy, blinded by chance, Oedipus rushed headlong to his doom. He killed a traveler who blocked his path, freed Thebes from the Sphinx's grasp, and, as a reward for his bravery, married the city's queen: inevitably, his terrible fate was fulfilled. (High School Teaching Resources - Tragedy)
