The true beginning of the story starts when Jocasta gives baby Oedipus to a shepherd to go kill. Her husband, Laius, had an ill-fated prophecy that stated that he would be killed by his very own son. Jocasta tries to have the baby killed to prevent such a fate. The shepherd, however, can't find it within himself to kill the baby and instead gives him away. Baby Oedipus then begins life as a prince of Corinth. Oedipus eventually finds a drunken man who tell him that he was not birthed by Queen Merope. He then finds it necessary to go to the oracle at Delphi to find out the truth about his parents. He is answered with a disturbing prophecy that stated he will kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus was afraid of this actually happening and ran to Thebes where he solves the sphinx's riddle and becomes king. On his way to Thebes he kills a group of men he met at a crossroad out of anger. One of those men was King Laius, his real father. As king of Thebes, he also had a bunch of kids with his wife, Jocasta, who was also his mother.
This entire scenario shows that regardless of how much you struggle, fate will always overpower human will. Jocasta could not change her husband's destiny and Oedipus could not change his. In Oedipus' case, he found himself not running away from his fate, but straight into it. Jocasta could only prolong her husband's life. The shepherd is the factor that kept each fate true. He was also the only one who could shed the most light on Oedipus' problem.
Everybody thank the shepherd for keeping fate rolling!
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