The Death of the Pythia by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Short summary

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The Pythian once told Oedipus at random that he would kill his father and marry his mother. The seer’s prediction came true, but not in the way she had intended.

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Pythia became bored with prophecy and began to predict at random. One day she told the young man Oedipus that he would kill his father and marry his mother.

The Pythia grew old. One day a blind beggar came to her and told her that he was Oedipus. He had killed his father, King Laius of Thebes, and married his mother Jocasta. The queen hanged herself with shame, and Oedipus poked out his own eyes.

Before his death, the Pythian sees the spirits of the dead. They tell the real story of Oedipus.

He was born of the Sphinx, the daughter of Laius. She was raped by Laius’ charioteer on his father’s orders. Sphinx gave birth to the boy at the same time as Queen Jocasta. Laius, fearing prophecy, decided to get rid of his son. But the Sphinx killed the infant and substituted her son Oedipus.

The young man grew up with strangers. Oedipus killed Laius and his father, the charioteer, and became the Sphinx’s lover. The prediction came true, but Oedipus’s parents were not who he thought they were.