Who is the mysterious abandoned baby?

(Image credit: BBC/Urban Myth Films/Nick Briggs)

Jason, Hercules and Pythagoras are out hunting in the woods when they discover an abandoned baby boy. Jason decides to take him back to Atlantis, though Hercules thinks it is a bad idea, and that they should not interfere with fate. "Only a fool would challenge the gods," he warns.

Once at home, Hercules warms to the child, and Medusa overhears him cooing to him, telling the infant that Medusa is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

King Laius of Thebes is visiting Atlantis with his wife Jocasta, who seems desperately unhappy. When Laius is told the child has vanished from the woods, he sends out soldiers to look for the boy. But what is his connection to the child?

 

As guards search the city, the friends escape with the child, only to be tracked down by soldiers who have forced Medusa to tell them their whereabouts.

 

The friends refuse to hand over the child, and Medusa is so impressed with Hercules's bravery that she kisses him on the cheek.

Jocasta then appears and tells them that the baby is her son with Laius. When he was born, Laius took the child to the Oracle where he was told the boy would grow up to murder him and marry his mother. Laius felt he had no choice but to sacrifice the infant by abandoning him in the woods.

 

At Jocasta's request, the friends secretly take the child away from Atlantis, hidden under Hercules's shirt, and deliver him to Jocasta's father for safe-keeping, naming him Oedipus on the way. Laius is told that the boy was killed and he leaves Atlantis none the wiser.

 

Meanwhile, Hercules dashes to see Medusa, believing her kiss gives him some hope, though Jason and Pythagoras fear his optimistic thoughts of love will not end well.

 

Richard McClure

As well as writing on sport and television for What to Watch, Richard McClure has contributed art and travel features for a wide variety of publications, including the Financial Times, The Guardian, and The Observer.