Chapter 46: The Tragedy of Oedipus - (1)

Thebes, the only country in the mortal world with a temple of Hades.

A dark cloud has fallen over this seemingly peaceful place...

This is because a prophecy was given to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes.

According to the oracle delivered at the Temple of Delphi,

Your son will kill his father and sleep with his mother.

King Laius was horrified upon hearing this oracle.

An oracle saying that his son would kill him and have relations with his wife.

King Laius quietly summoned a shepherd.

"Take this newborn to a place where no one knows and quietly kill him."

"What...? But... Your Majesty's son..."

"Son or not, I can't let him live if he's going to kill me and sleep with my wife."

So the shepherd left Thebes with the newborn.

He took the child to a quiet place.

But he hesitated, feeling guilty about having to kill a newborn child.

A passing couple noticed his behavior.

"Sir, what are you trying to do with that child?"

"Uh... well..."

"If you're having difficulty raising the child, leave him with me. His feet are swollen, so we'll call him Oedipus (swollen feet)..."

They were the childless royal couple of Corinth,

And so Oedipus became the son of Polybus, King of Corinth.

Years later, during a royal banquet, the grown Oedipus hears shocking news from Polybus's brother.

Although it was the words of a man drunk on wine...

"Hic... You're not my brother's real child, Oedipus."

"What do you mean, uncle...?"

"You're the child my brother and his wife received from a shepherd.. Hic!"

It was such a shocking revelation that Oedipus went to Delphi to hear an oracle.

Surely the oracle of Apollo, god of prophecy, would reveal his true birth.

You will kill your father and sleep with your mother.

But the prophecy didn't tell him whether he was a real son or not.

It only foretold Oedipus's tragedy.

Thinking that the father and mother in question were his adoptive parents, Oedipus left Corinth in the middle of the night.

Since his adoptive parents were the king and queen of Corinth, he thought he could avoid the prophecy by leaving.

But then...

He gets into an argument with an approaching party in a narrow alley.

The charioteer started a quarrel, telling Oedipus in his shabby clothes to make way.

"How am I supposed to make way in such a narrow alley!"

"Ha! Do you know who's riding in this chariot?"

"Some nobleman, I suppose, but it's not good to act based on status alone."

"Such insolence! The person in this chariot is the king of a country!"

Oedipus mocked the charioteer.

What mad king would leave the palace and wander outside the city?

In the mythical age, areas outside the city walls were almost lawless zones.

Centaurs, nymphs, various monsters, and all sorts of non-human species roamed about...

It was no different from wild lands where one frequently encountered robbers and thieves.

"If the one inside is a king, then I'm the prince of Corinth!"

"What?!"

At that moment, someone listening from inside the chariot reached out and swung a whip.

The long whip struck Oedipus's head and knocked him down.

"Ugh!"

"How impudent for a commoner. Step aside if you don't want to die."

"Alright, let's see what you've got!"

Enraged, Oedipus drew the sword at his waist and killed the chariot's owner along with the guards,

Only the charioteer barely managed to escape alive.

However, the owner of that chariot was...

King Laius, who was hurriedly going to receive an oracle to solve the problem of a monster called the Sphinx that had appeared in Thebes.

Oedipus had killed his father, just as the prophecy foretold.

***

Continuing his journey and arriving in Thebes, Oedipus hears a story.

"It seems that monster called the Sphinx is still blocking the road and causing havoc."

"Ah, the one that devours people if they can't solve its four riddles?"

"I hear that the widowed Queen Jocasta will marry whoever gets rid of the Sphinx."

"If I solve the Sphinx's riddles, could I become the king of Thebes?"

"Dozens have already gone to Pluto's embrace..."

Oedipus asked them for directions and headed to where the Sphinx was said to appear.

Sure enough, when he arrived, there was a large monster with a lion's body and a human head.

He immediately challenged the monster.

"Oh... A challenger? If you can't solve four riddles, I'll devour you."

"Hurry up and give me the riddles, monster."

"There are two sisters who give birth to each other, what are they?"

"Day and night."

"What grows larger in the morning, smaller at noon, grows larger again in the afternoon, and disappears at night?"

"A shadow"

"What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

"A human"

Oedipus solved three problems in an instant.

The huge monster, the Sphinx, a combination of lion and human, growled and bared its teeth.

But surely he won't be able to solve the last problem!

"Which god do all mortals fear the most while simultaneously wishing to receive their blessing?"

Oedipus pondered for a moment.

There are so many gods where fear and desire coexist.

Zeus's lightning is feared, but everyone desires the grace of the sky.

Goddess Hera is the guardian of marriage and family, but she's angry at adultery...

Goddess Artemis is the goddess of hunting, but she also has the divine status of plague...

Many gods have contradictory aspects.

But this monster appeared near Thebes.

The widely spread gods in Thebes are Dionysus, god of wine and madness, and...

"Pluto, god of the underworld and mercy."

"Grrrr!!!"

The correct answer to the last question was...

Pluto, the lord of the underworld whom everyone fears, but who shows a gentle side to the living as the god of mercy.

One could tell just by looking at the mint, the symbol of God Pluto, growing all over Thebes.

"Grrrr! I... to such a guy!"

Unable to overcome its shame, the Sphinx jumped off a cliff and committed suicide.

Thus, Oedipus married his own mother, Queen Jocasta, and became the king of Thebes.

The prophecy was perfectly fulfilled.

***

Oedipus, who became the king of Thebes, ruled wisely and made Thebes prosper.

He also had children with Jocasta, who maintained her youthful appearance thanks to the Necklace of Harmonia, a treasure passed down in the Theban royal family.

However... one day, a plague began to spread in Thebes.

"King Oedipus! Dozens have died from the plague again today!"

"Gather the dead and cremate them with mint leaves. Separate the patients from the people..."

"The force of the plague is alarming. How about receiving an oracle from Delphi?"

"Sigh..."

The wise Oedipus took all possible measures,

But for some reason, the power of the plague only grew stronger.

Eventually, he sent Creon, Jocasta's brother, to receive an oracle.

According to the priest of Delphi...

The plague will not disappear unless the sinner who killed his father and married his mother is punished.

To this, King Oedipus angrily said,

"To think such a sinner exists! When we find him, I'll blind him!"

And to find the sinner, he invited the blind prophet Tiresias.

Tiresias was cursed and turned into a woman for killing mating snakes,

Lived as a woman for 7 years, then killed snakes again and returned to being a man.

He, who had been cursed with gender transformation by snakes twice, was called by Zeus and Hera...

The reason was an argument between Zeus and Hera.

"Tiresias, you have lived as both male and female, so you should be able to judge whose words are right."

"What do the two gods wish to ask me?"

"You have lived both male and female lives, so you should be able to make a correct judgment. Which is stronger, male or female orgasm?"

"That is..."

After pondering for a moment, Tiresias answered.

"If a man's orgasm is 1, a woman's orgasm would be 9."

"Hahaha! Hera! Didn't I tell you?"

"Eek..."

Tiresias was blinded by the curse of the enraged Hera,

But he received the blessing of Zeus, who pitied him, gaining the ability of prophecy and a long lifespan.

Anyway, the blind prophet, face to face with Oedipus, understood everything at a glance.

After sighing deeply for a while, the prophet spoke with difficulty.

"That sinner... is Your Majesty, the son of the late King Laius who married his wife..."

"Wh-what?!"

If Oedipus had been a foolish man, he would have angrily driven the prophet away.

But he was a wise king who had won a battle of wits against the Sphinx.

'Tiresias's words, with his prophetic abilities, are correct. And he's saying this even though I could kill him for such a prophecy.'

The expression of King Oedipus, full of confusion, becomes more and more distorted.

'He's saying this before me, the king of Thebes, prepared for death. How could it be a lie!'

"Ugh... Aaaaah!!!"

Crash!

"Y-Your Majesty?! You were meeting with the prophet...?!"

"No.. Your Majesty...!"

And in his mind flashed the prophecy of the Delphic priestess.

You will kill your father and sleep with your mother.

Oedipus immediately rode his horse out of Thebes.

Unbearable self-loathing, anger, resentment.. all emotions swept over him.

The wife I loved was my mother! I'm the sinner who killed my own father!

Because of me, a plague has spread in Thebes and countless people have died!

"Aaaaah!! Damn it! Damn it all!!"

Oedipus, running to a mountain where no presence could be felt, pounded the ground.

After raging angrily for a while, he moved both hands towards his eyes.

To keep his vow to blind the sinner.

At that moment,

"Oh my... A mortal suffering because of Ares' curse..."

Oedipus, who was about to gouge out his own eyes, paused at the sudden voice of an old woman.