In this famous work from the origins of Greek thought, the hero Oedipus is sent to his death bed as an infant when an oracle predicts that he will kill his kingly father, and marry his mother. Being unable to kill him, the father passes him off to a shepherd who adopts him to another royal family. Believing this new family to be his true family, Oedipus now receives the same oracle as his father and believes he will perform this act on his adopted patron. Fleeing he comes across his real father, kills him and marries his grieving widow. The story that follows is one of the discovery of the truth and the terrible price that it demands.