Initially, Jocasta attempts to ease Oedipus's mind by explaining to him that the prophecy regarding Laius's fate was not fulfilled because he was murdered by three strangers at a place where the three roads meet. It was prophesied that Laius's son would one day kill him. As a result of the earlier prophecy, Laius and Jocasta took precautions by fusing their son's ankles together and leaving him in the mountains to die as an infant.
Later on, a messenger arrives from Corinth and informs Jocasta that Oedipus's father, Polybus, has died from illness, which means that the prophecy did not come true. Jocasta is once again reassured because she is under the belief that Polybus is Oedipus's biological father. However, the messenger then informs Oedipus that he is not Polybus's biological son and says that Oedipus was discovered as a child in the mountains by a shepherd. The messenger recalls a shepherd saving Oedipus as an infant and then bringing him to Polybus, who raised him as his son.
