Thebes has fallen under Alexander the Great's power, but the days following are filled with murderous treason. Lysander and Mamnon, Alexander's two favorite officers, have been killed by a dangerous spy, and Alexander's rule is precarious until he solves the riddle of Oedipus's crown.

Protected by the shrine dedicated to the legendary Oedipus, the crown can only be handed over to one pure in heart and innocent of any crime against his own parents. Alexander is determined to seize the crown, not only as a vindication of his divine status, but also as an answer to the malicious rumors that he had a hand in his own father's murder. But the crown is not easily had, watched over by a priestess and surrounded by poisonous snakes and a glowing bed of charcoal.

Alexander relies for help on his two Israelite friends, Miriam and Simeon Bartmaeus. They are faced with the inescapable legend—that Oedipus killed his father, married his own mother, and became King of Thebes. Now for Alexander to assume power they must learn who betrayed Lysander the Thebes—and how did Mamnon, guarded and protected in his own locked chamber, fall to his death? Who is killing Macedonian sentries in the dead of night? Is it true that the specter of Oedipus has returned to Thebes to exact vengeance to Macedon?