Iokaste or Jocasta, as she is more familiarly known, was the wife of Laius, King of Thebes. During the couple’s reign, Apollo’s oracle started to play an important role in the family’s fortunes and misfortunes. Apollo was the God of Truth and whatever he prophesied and announced through his priestesses at Delphi always came true. Yet when Laius was forewarned by the oracle that he would die at the hands of his son, he was determined that it would not come to pass. At the birth of his son, he tied its feet together and had it exposed on a lofty mountaintop where it would presumably die. After taking the precaution, he felt relieved and he was certain that he had outwitted the gods. Eventually he was killed, but never thought that the man who attacked him was a member of his own family. He never realized that in his death, Apollo was right after all. A long time elapsed since the baby was left to die on top of the mountain. Rumor had it that a band of robbers had slain him and others except one who brought the news home. The details of the incident were never looked into carefully, since at that time Thebes was besieged by the Sphinx – a horrible creature with the appearance of a winged lion with the face and the breast of a woman. The monster blocked all entrances to the city and any man the monster seized, was given a riddle to answer. The victim would be released only if he could answer the riddle correctly. No one could, therefore everyone who was captured was devoured. The seven great gates to the city remained closed and famine stalked the land. It was at the height of this calamity when a stranger arrived from Corinth and his name was Oedipus. He was reputed to be the son of King Polybus and he impressed everyone with his great courage and intelligence. He decided to leave his house in Corinth because the Delphian Oracle predicted that he was fated to kill his father. Like his true father, Laius, he sought to defy the prediction and resolved never to see the man who he thought was his real father – King Polybus. When he became an exile, he heard of Thebes being besieged by the Sphinx. He sought the Sphinx and was successful in answering rightly the question put to him. At this, the Sphinx killed herself and the land was free again. The lonely exile became a welcome citizen of the Thebans who were so grateful that they made him their king and Jocasta whom he married, their queen. Jocasta must have been an ambitious person. She must have been beautiful for Laius to choose her to be his queen since she was only a distant cousin of his and probably not royalty. This surmise is strengthened by the fact that she married Oedipus whose history she was ignorant of just so to retain her power as the reigning queen. Later on, this thirst for power is seen in her sons who later struggled to wrest the crown of Thebes from each other. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Jocasta must have sprung from a family with strong family ties. After the Sphinx, Thebes was again visited by another calamity – a terrible plague. No one suffered more than Oedipus who loved his people. He sent someone he trusted most, his brother-in-law Creon to Delphis who came home with Apollo’s message that the plague would be over onc