Oedipus's hair-trigger temper is much in evidence in his interactions with Laius, Creon, and Tiresias. Towards all three men he displays various shades of anger and contempt. Eventually, Oedipus will come to see the error of his ways, but by then it'll be too late. In the meantime, he acts every inch the king, treating those beneath him like dirt.

Take Laius, for example. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, Laius is his father. When he bumps into him at the crossroads one day he insists that Laius, whom he doesn't know from Adam, give way. But Laius doesn't know who Oedipus is, either. He just sees him as a rude young upstart who needs to be taught some manners. So the two men get into a scuffle, which results in Laius's death. Though he doesn't know it yet, Oedipus has just killed his father.

Oedipus shows a similar degree of anger and high-handedness towards Creon. He has the audacity to blame Creon for the deadly plague that's descended upon Thebes. In fact, the plague is a curse for Oedipus's murder of Laius, but of course Oedipus doesn't know that. He simply sees Creon as a convenient scapegoat for the city's misfortunes. Later on, Oedipus will falsely accuse Creon of being Laius's murderer.

Finally, Oedipus turns on Tiresias, the blind prophet, when he gives him the bombshell news that it was he, Oedipus, who murdered his father. Even though Tiresias's prophecies are always 100 percent accurate, and he has a hotline to the gods, Oedipus refuses to believe him; the thought that he could've been responsible for his father's death is simply too horrible to contemplate. He mocks Tiresias and accuses him of being paid off by Creon. But as Oedipus will eventually discover, Tiresias is absolutely right: Oedipus is the murderer that he seeks.