Laius was, in
Oedipus Rex(Also known as
Oedipus the King) the
king of
Thebes. He and his wife
Jocasta consulted the
Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle provided a horrible
prophecy that their child would grow to kill his father and marry his mother.
In reaction to this, Laius ordered the baby left for dead in the high pastures. A neighboring king found the babe and raised him as his own child.
Many years later, Laius became involved in a dispute on a road far from Thebes. The young man opposing him inadvertently killed the older king. That young man was Oedipus, who went on to become the king of Thebes by solving the Riddle of the Sphinx.