Jocasta

                               In Greek mythology, Jocasta was described as the wife of King Laius of Thebes. Laius married Jocasta, after he kidnapped and raped Chrysippus.  Laius and Jocasta was warned by an oracle of Delphi that their child would kill his father and sleep with his mother. According to other version, Laius is warned that he can only save the city if he dies childless. One night, however, Laius became drunk and had sex Jocasta. Accordingly, when Jocasta, bore a son, Laius exposed the baby on Mt. Cithaeron. However, a shepherd found the child and took him to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth, who raised the boy and named him Oedipus.

Jocasta.....

                                  Oedipus grew up in Corinth under the assumption that he was the son of Polybus and Merope. Oedipus visited oracle of Delphi and upon learning that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother, he resolved never to return to Corinth.Traveling toward Thebes, Oedipus encountered Laius on the road. After a heated argument regarding right-of-way, Oedipus killed Laius, unknowingly fulfilling the first half of the prophecy.

Oedipus killing Laius...

                         Oedipus continued his journey to Thebes and discovered that the city was being terrorized by the sphinx. Oedipus solved the sphinx's riddle, and the grateful city elected Oedipus as their new king; Oedipus accepted the throne and married Laius' widowed queen Jocasta, fulfilling the second half of the prophecy. Jocasta bore him four children: two girls, Antigone and Ismene, and two boys, Eteocles and Polynices.

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Many years later, when his city was struck by a plague, Oedipus learned that it was divine punishment for his patricide (the act of killing one's own father) and also incest (sexual intercourse between closely related persons). Hearing this news, Jocasta hanged herself. According to some version, Jocasta endured the burden of disgrace and continued to live in Thebes, committing suicide later after her sons (Eteocles and Polynices) kill one another in a fight for the crown.

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