At Thebes, in Bœotia, the king, Laius, was told that his first child would be his death.  So as soon as it was born he had its ancles pierced, and put it out in a wood to die; but it was found by a shepherd, and brought to Corinth, where the queen named it Œdipus, or Swollen Feet, and bred it up as her own child.  Many years later Œdipus set out for the Delphic oracle, to ask who he was; but all the answer he received was that he must shun his native land, for he would be the slayer of his own father.  He therefore resolved not to return to Corinth, but on his journey he met in a narrow pass with a chariot going to Delphi.  A quarrel arose, and in the fight that followed he slew the man to whom the chariot belonged, little knowing that it was Laius, his own father.