sojourn, Oedipus meets up with a band of travelers and in a rage kills them. Inadvertently Oedipus has killed his own father. Oedipus then answers the riddle of the sphinx and becomes king of Thebes. By becoming king of Thebes he marries Jocasta the Queen of Thebes and his own mother. Many years later after bearing children with Jocasta a plague kills many of the inhabitants of Thebes, from the depths, the red wave of death.../ Thebes is dying. A blight on her fresh crops/ and the rich pastures,... (29-32). After Oedipus dispatched Creon to the oracle at Delphi, Creon returned and imparts the gods solution to cure the citys desease, which meant finding the killer of Laius. He is very diligent in the inquiry and finally comes to the horrible truth that he himself is the murderer. Towards the end of the play Jocasta kills herself due to the horrible realization that she has laid with her son and Oedipus puts out his eyes at finally seeing the truth of the prophacy the oracle fortold. This fulfills the final part of the Sphinx's riddle for Oedipus will have to walk with a cane for the rest of his life because of his blindness, this will give him the 3 feet which man walks with at the end of his years.Oedipus used his intellect and diligence to answer the riddle of the Sphinx. Many of the most intelligent young men of Themes had been killed attempting to answer the riddle, but Oedipus proved his intelligence superior to theirs. Oedipus uses the same intelligence and perseverance to find the killer of Laius. He does not give up his search even when Jocasta warns him to stop and let the matter rest, she argues, oh no,/ listen to me, I beg you, dont do this... No, please-/ for your sake- I want the best for you (1166-1167). Although Tiresias reveals the terrible truth that Oedipus was Laius murderer, Oedipus arrogantly dismisses the thought and later calls on a shepard for further insight. Oedipus interrogates him till he discover...
