Oedipus awoke to find Creon and Jocasta standing at the foot of his bed, accompanied by several armed servants. Creon sorrowfully spoke.

"Oedipus, I am sorry. We have found the bringer of the plague. I beg of you, ask not how or why. If you truly love Thebes, you will leave."

Oedipus leapt to his feet, his rage dominating his confusion. "What madness is this? You accuse your king of regicide?"

"I accuse a murderer!" screamed Creon, his sympathy likewise giving way to anger. "As a kindness, I will tell you no more. These men will escort you out of the city."

"You!" Oedipus snarled. "You killed Laius! You conspired with Teiresias, and now seek to exile me! But I will not accept this treachery. I will share Laius' fate before abandoning Thebes." At this, Jocasta, who had seemed dumbstruck by the sadness of this scene, burst into tears.

"It is true! Please, my dear Oedipus, go, go and spare yourself our knowledge!"

"Then you are against me as well! My wife, a vile enemy of Thebes!" Taking hold of Jocasta's throat with one hand, Oedipus reached for a weapon held by a nearby servant, tearing it from his hand. Another servant grabbed Oedipus from behind, sword drawn. Turning too quickly face his advancing attacker, the drawn sword tore through the king's eyes.

Oedipus cried in anguish, blood streaming from his face, and collapsed to the floor. Jocasta knelt beside him and cradled his wounded head in her arms. "How cruel are the gods!" she wailed. "And how cruel are we to bring suffering upon ourselves so! Your foot, Oedipus, do you not remember how it came to be injured?" Oedipus only wailed in pain, and did not answer. "Laius and I had a child, a child prophecized to kill his father and take his mother to wife. We arranged to have a servant cripple it and leave it on a hill to die. But you returned, named for the injury we gave you, for our act of defiance against the gods...you killed Laius before you defeated the Sphinx. And you made the rest of the oracle's words true in our bed."

Creon looked on coldly. "Now you know the truth from which we, like Teiresias, had hoped to protect you. No matter. You are the murderer. Your duty to Thebes is clear. You must leave, and never return."