The play Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, begins at a point where Oedipus has been king of Thebes for many years. As a baby, Oedipus was cast out by his own parents, the king and queen of Thebes, Laius and Jocasta, because Laius was informed by an oracle concerning his first born son that “doom would strike him (Laius) down at the hands of a son.” In fear of the oracle, Laius gave the infant Oedipus to a local shepherd and ordered that the baby be destroyed. The shepherd, however, took pity on the infant and gave him to a shepherd from the neighboring kingdom of Corinth. This shepherd gave the baby to the king and queen of Corinth, and they raised him as their own son.