Oedipus the King, an Athenian tragic play that dates from 429 B.C., is the story of Oedipus, a man the Oracles told was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Though Oedipus desperately tries to avoid this fate, he unknowingly fulfills the prophecy when he becomes King of Thebes. After a plague befalls his city, an investigation into its cause reveals the dark truth, driving Oedipus to blind himself before being exiled.