Oedipus Journal #3

I write in my diary of the difficult day that has passed. Emotions of all kind filled my heart this day. Relief was the first one to set in, when the messenger brought the great news that Polybus had passed away, without my doing. I was pleased to know that all of the prophecies I feared were no longer haunting me. I should have listened to Jocasta, and not have let them worry me for quite some time. This relief did not last long. Soon the messenger tells me that Polybus and I were not related in blood, and I was simply delivered to him. Apparently my ankles were pinned together, and a servant of Laius passed me on to this same messenger, down the woody flanks of Mount Cithaeron. After hearing this from the messenger, Jocasta tried to step foot in my way of finding the truth of how I came to be in the hands of a servant of Laius. She kept repeating that I would be displeased if I continued to search for the truth. However, I felt that it was necessary to continue. Eventually the servant of Laius is found almost instantly, and I speak with him. With the threat of torture, he spoke and delivered the awful truth. He received the child, I, from Laius, and revealed that I was his child. This was incredibly difficult to hear, and yet the news worsened. Jocasta, now revealed as my mother, Laius' wife at the time, and my wife currently, handed the child to this shepherd, and ordered him to kill the child. She was in fear of the prophecies, which are now sadly alive. This day has brought me great grief and shock. My life no longer pleases me. I am cursed.

- Oedipus