Jocasta marry her; in another version, recorded by Aeschylus, Laius is warned that he can only save the city if he dies childless. One night, Laius became drunk and fathered Oedipus with Jocasta. Jocasta handed the newborn infant over to Laius. Jocasta or Laius pierced and pinned the infant's ankles together. Laius instructed his chief shepherd, a slave who had been born in the palace, to expose the infant on Mount Cithaeron. Laius' shepherd took pity on the infant and gave him to another shepherd in the employ of King Polybus of Corinth. Childless, Polybus and his Queen, Merope (according to
Œdipe (opera) It is generally considered to be Enescu's masterpiece. "Act I" In the royal palace of Thebes, the people celebrate the birth of the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Just as Laius and Jocasta, at the High Priest's request, are to name the child, the old and blind prophet Tiresias interrupts the festivities. He reproaches Laius for having disobeyed Apollo's injunction to bear no descendants, and tells of the gods' punishment for this transgression: one day, the child will murder his father and marry his mother. The appalled Laius summons a shepherd and commands him to abandon the infant