to the wagon where he kills king Laius and the wounded soldier. One of the king's escorts runs off to the desert to avoid being killed and survives. Oedipus continues down the road where he comes across roving bands of displaced people fleeing the Sphinx. The Sphinx has terrorized the country of Thebes. It has caused so much death that Queen Jocasta has promised to marry anyone who can kill it. Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx. He casts the sphinx down into the abyss while the sphinx warns him of the abyss that is within him. Oedipus is given his reward and is married to Queen Jocasta who is unbeknownst to him, his biological mother. After Oedipus is made king, a plague occurs and kills much of the city. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law Creon to the Oracle to receive news about how to stop it. Creon returns and tells him that for the plague to end, King Laius' killer must be brought to justice. Oedipus sends for the blind prophet Tiresias to find out the name of the killer. Tiresias is reluctant to speak because he knows it will cause injury to both himself and Oedipus. Oedipus prods him to continue and Tiresias tells him that Oedipus is the killer. Oedipus banishes him from the city believing that his brother-in-law Creon put him up to it in order to steal the throne. Jocasta reveals to Oedipus that Laius was killed at the crossroads of Apollo's sacred road. She also tells him that the Oracle has been wrong before. The Oracle predicted Jocasta's son would kill his father so she sent for him to be killed in the desert. Oedipus realizes with horror that the Oracle's prophecy has been fulfilled and that Jocasta and Laius were his birth parents. The old servant who brought Oedipus to the desert is called for and admits to him the truth. Jocasta commits suicide by hanging and Oedipus blinds himself. The scene then changes again to modern Italy where Oedipus and Angelo roam from town to town playing the flute. Oedipus returns to the meadow where he first opened his eyes as a child and finds peace. Cast Franco Citti as Oedipus Silvana Mangano as Queen Jocasta Alida Valli as Queen Merope Julian Beck as Tiresias Carmelo Bene as Creon Ninetto Davoli as Ángelo Luciano Bartoli as King Laius Ahmed Belhachmi as Polybus