The shepherd is the former
servant of King Laius who took pity on the baby Oedipus
and spared his life. The shepherd rescues the infant and names him Oedipus (or
"swollen feet"). The shepherd carries the baby with him to Corinth,
where Oedipus is taken in and raised in the court of the childless King Polybus
of Corinth as if he were his own.
Later
in drama a messenger who was formerly a shepherd on Mount Cithaeron tells
Oedipus that about the baby and it was given to him by another shepherd from
the Laius household. Oedipus asks the chorus if anyone knows who this man was,
or where he might be now. They respond that he is the same shepherd who
was witness to the murder of Laius, and whom Oedipus had already sent for.
When
the shepherd arrives Oedipus questions him, but he begs to be allowed to leave
without answering further. However, finally upon threat he tells that the child
he gave away was Laius's own son, and that Jocasta had given the baby to the
shepherd to secretly be exposed upon the mountainside. This was done in fear of
the prophecy that Jocasta said had never come true: that the child would kill his
father.
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