Jocasta (1345 BC-1280 BC) was the Queen consort of Thebes as the wife of Laius and then her own son, Oedipus.
Biography[]
Jocasta was born in 1345 BC, the daughter of Menoeceus. Shortly after his rape of Chrysippus, Laius married Jocasta, but the Oracle at Delphi warned him that he must not have a child, or else the child would grow up to kill him and marry his wife. One day, a drunken Laius conceived Oedipus with Jocasta, and, when Oedipus was born, Laius exposed him on a hill. Oedipus was taken to King Polybus of Corinth, who raised him as his own son. He was later warned by the Oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother if he returned home, but Oedipus mistakenly believed that Corinth was his birthplace, so he headed to Thebes, where his father Laius was king. Oedipus killed Laius in an altercation on the road to the city, unaware of his identity, and Oedipus was elected King of Thebes after solving the Sphinx's riddle. He then married the widowed queen Jocasta, fulfilling the second part of the prophecy. They had four children: Antigone, Ismene, Eteocles, and Polynices. When the city was struck by plague, Oedipus discovered that it was divine retribution for his incest, and, upon hearing this news, Jocasta committed suicide.