預言的起點：一個父親的恐懼 The Beginning: A Father's Fear
故事的開端，發生在底比斯城邦（Thebes）。底比斯的國王拉伊俄斯（Laius）與王后約卡斯塔（Jocasta）婚後多年無子，深感憂慮的拉伊俄斯便前往德爾菲神廟請示神諭，希望得知自己是否能有後嗣。
The story begins in the city-state of Thebes. King Laius and Queen Jocasta had been married for many years but had no children. Worried about the future of his kingdom, Laius traveled to the Oracle of Delphi to ask Apollo for guidance.
然而，阿波羅透過皮媞亞傳達的神諭，並非拉伊俄斯所期待的好消息。神諭告訴他：「你將會有一個兒子，但這個兒子將親手殺死你，並娶你的妻子為妻。」
But the answer he received was not what he hoped for. The Oracle warned him: "You will have a son. But this son will kill you and marry your wife."
這個預言讓拉伊俄斯不寒而慄。不久後，約卡斯塔誕下一名男嬰。為了阻止預言成真，拉伊俄斯下令將這名嬰兒的雙腳穿刺綁縛，命令一名僕人將他遺棄在荒野的奇泰隆山（Mount Cithaeron）上，任其自生自滅。
Laius was terrified. Not long after, Jocasta gave birth to a baby boy. To prevent the prophecy from coming true, Laius ordered a servant to pierce the baby's feet, tie them together, and leave the infant on the wild slopes of Mount Cithaeron to die.
命運的轉折：科林斯的王子 A Twist of Fate: The Prince of Corinth
然而，負責執行命令的僕人，心生憐憫，不忍讓這名無辜的嬰兒就此死去。他將嬰兒轉交給一名來自科林斯（Corinth）的牧羊人。這名牧羊人將嬰兒帶回科林斯，獻給了膝下無子的科林斯國王波呂玻斯（Polybus）與王后梅諾珀（Merope）。夫婦二人視如己出，為這名孩子取名「伊底帕斯」，意為「腫脹的腳」，因為他的雙腳仍留有被穿刺的傷痕。
However, the servant could not bring himself to let the innocent baby die. He passed the child to a shepherd from the city of Corinth, who brought the baby to the childless King Polybus and Queen Merope. The royal couple raised the boy as their own son and named him Oedipus, meaning "swollen foot," because of the scars left on his feet.
伊底帕斯在科林斯宮廷中長大，自以為是波呂玻斯之子。直到某一天，一名醉酒的貴族在宴會上嘲諷他並非國王的親生骨肉。伊底帕斯心中惶惑，不顧養父母的勸阻，獨自前往德爾菲神廟，想要親口向神諭求證自己的身世。
Oedipus grew up in the palace of Corinth, believing he was the king's true son. Then one day, a drunken nobleman mocked him at a banquet, claiming he was not the king's real child. Deeply troubled, Oedipus traveled to Delphi to ask the Oracle about his true origins.
命運的詛咒：逃離，卻走向預言 Running Away — Straight Toward the Prophecy
皮媞亞給了伊底帕斯一個令他魂飛魄散的答案，卻始終沒有告訴他他的出身是否為真。神諭只說：「你注定將殺死你的父親，並與你的母親成婚，生下讓世人蒙羞的子嗣。」
The Pythia gave Oedipus a terrifying answer, but never actually told him whether the nobleman's claim was true. The Oracle simply said: "You are destined to kill your father and marry your mother, and your children will bring shame to the world."
伊底帕斯嚇壞了。他愛他的父母，絕不願意讓這樣的預言成真。他當下做了一個他認為最理智的決定：永遠不回科林斯，永遠遠離他以為的父母。
Oedipus was horrified. He loved his parents and could not bear the idea of such a fate. He made what seemed like a logical decision: he would never return to Corinth. He would stay far away from the people he believed were his parents.
他踏上了流亡之路，卻渾然不知，他每走一步，都是在走向命運。
He set off on the road — not knowing that every step he took was leading him directly toward his destiny.
在前往底比斯的岔路口，伊底帕斯與一隊人馬發生衝突。對方的老人態度傲慢，命令他讓路，雙方言語衝突升級為暴力，伊底帕斯在激鬥中殺死了那名老人與他的大部分隨從。他不知道的是，那名老人正是底比斯國王拉伊俄斯——他的親生父親。
At a crossroads on the way to Thebes, Oedipus got into an argument with a group of travelers. An arrogant old man in the group ordered him to get out of the way. The argument turned violent, and Oedipus killed the old man and most of his companions. He had no idea that the old man was King Laius of Thebes — his own biological father.
預言的第一部分，就這樣在他全然不知情的情況下應驗了。
The first part of the prophecy had come true, and Oedipus did not even know it.
斯芬克斯之謎與底比斯王位 The Riddle of the Sphinx and the Throne of Thebes
抵達底比斯後，伊底帕斯發現這座城市正深陷恐懼之中。一頭名為斯芬克斯（Sphinx）的怪獸盤踞在城門之外，向每一個試圖進城的旅人出謎題，答不出者便會被她吞噬。謎題是：「什麼生物，早晨用四條腿走路，中午用兩條腿走路，傍晚用三條腿走路？」
When Oedipus arrived in Thebes, he found the city living in fear. A monster called the Sphinx had taken up position outside the city gates. She asked every traveler a riddle, and those who failed to answer were devoured. The riddle was: "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"
所有人都答不出來，直到伊底帕斯給出了答案：「人。」人在嬰兒時期爬行（四條腿），成年後直立行走（兩條腿），年老時需要拐杖（三條腿）。
No one had been able to answer — until Oedipus stepped forward. His answer was: "A human being." A person crawls on all fours as a baby, walks upright as an adult, and uses a walking stick in old age.
斯芬克斯羞憤難當，投崖自盡。伊底帕斯解救了底比斯，被城邦人民奉為英雄。底比斯的大臣們推舉他為新任國王，並將剛剛喪夫的王后約卡斯塔許配給他為妻。
The Sphinx, defeated and humiliated, threw herself off a cliff. Oedipus had saved Thebes, and the people celebrated him as a hero. The city's leaders made him their new king and gave him Queen Jocasta — recently widowed — as his wife.
伊底帕斯欣然接受。他不知道的是，那名王后，正是他的親生母親。
Oedipus accepted gladly. He had no idea that the queen standing beside him was his own mother.
（Source:https://www.greece-is.com/7-aegean-history-at-a-glance-the-sphinx-of-the-naxians/）
真相大白：最殘忍的結局 The Truth Revealed: The Cruelest Ending
多年後，底比斯遭受嚴重的瘟疫侵襲，城中哀鴻遍野。伊底帕斯再次前往神諭請示，得到的答案是：城中隱藏著一名殺死前任國王的凶手，唯有將此人驅逐出境，瘟疫才能平息。
Years later, a terrible plague struck Thebes. Oedipus consulted the Oracle again and received this answer: a murderer was hiding in the city — the man who had killed the previous king. Only by driving this person away could the plague be stopped.
伊底帕斯憤而展開調查，誓言要揪出這名凶手。然而，隨著調查一步步深入，真相也逐漸浮出水面，像一把利刃緩緩刺向他的胸口。那名殺死前任國王的人，正是他自己。而前任國王，正是他的親生父親。而他的妻子，正是他的親生母親。
Oedipus launched a fierce investigation, determined to find the killer. But as the truth slowly came to light, it cut through him like a knife. The man who had killed the previous king was Oedipus himself. The previous king was his biological father. And his wife, the queen, was his biological mother.
這一切都應驗了。一條都沒有漏掉。
Every part of the prophecy had come true. Not a single detail had been missed.
約卡斯塔在得知真相後，上吊自盡。伊底帕斯從她的衣袍上取下別針，刺瞎了自己的雙眼。他大喊：「我活著的時候看見了一切，卻什麼都沒看見；現在我失去了雙眼，我才終於看清了真相。」
When Jocasta learned the truth, she hanged herself. Oedipus took the pins from her dress and used them to blind his own eyes. He cried out: "When I had my sight, I saw nothing. Now that my eyes are gone, I can finally see the truth."
他在悔恨與自我放逐中度過了餘生，由女兒安蒂岡妮（Antigone）陪伴，流浪至死。
He spent the rest of his life in guilt and self-exile, wandering from place to place with only his devoted daughter Antigone by his side, until he finally died alone.
（Source:Wikipedia.）
伊底帕斯的意義 The Meaning of Oedipus
伊底帕斯的悲劇不只是一個關於可怕詛咒的恐怖故事。它提出了人類歷史上最深刻的問題之一：如果命運早已注定，自由意志還有任何意義嗎？更令人不寒而慄的地方在於——拉伊俄斯與伊底帕斯為了「逃避預言」所採取的行動，正是讓預言一一成真的原因。如果拉伊俄斯從未遺棄兒子，如果伊底帕斯從未離開科林斯，或許預言永遠不會應驗。
The tragedy of Oedipus is not simply a horror story about a terrible curse. It raises one of the deepest questions in human history: if fate is already decided, does free will mean anything at all? What makes the story even more chilling is this — the actions that both Laius and Oedipus took specifically to avoid the prophecy were the very actions that made it come true. If Laius had never abandoned his son, and if Oedipus had never left Corinth, perhaps the prophecy would never have been fulfilled.
這，就是命運殘忍的玩笑。
That is the cruel trick of fate.
