Oedipus - Myth Encyclopedia - mythology, Greek, god, story, names, ancient, Roman, life, hero
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Oedipus
Oedipus was a tragic hero of Greek mythology, a king doomed to a dire fate       because he unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. His story       is the tale of someone who, because he did not know his true identity,       followed the wrong path in life. Once he had set foot on that path, his       best qualities could not save him from the results of actions that       violated the laws of gods and men. Oedipus represents two enduring themes       of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's       powerlessness against the course of destiny in a harsh universe.
The Myth. The story begins with a son born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of       Thebes*. The oracle at Delphi* told them that their child would grow up to murder Laius and       marry Jocasta. Horrified, the king fastened the infant's feet together       with a large pin and left him on a mountainside to die.
However, shepherds found the baby—who became known as Oedipus, or "swollen foot"—and took him to the city of Corinth.       There King Polybus and Queen Merope adopted him and raised him to think       that he was their own son. When Oedipus was grown, however, someone told       him that he was not the son of Polybus. Oedipus went to Delphi to ask the       oracle about his parentage. The answer he received was, "You are       the man fated to murder his father and marry his mother."
Like Laius and Jocasta, Oedipus was determined to avoid the destiny predicted for him. Believing that the oracle had said he was fated to       kill Polybus and marry Merope, he vowed never to return to Corinth.       Instead, he headed toward Thebes.
oracle priest or priestess or other creature through whom a god is believed to speak; also the location (such as a shrine) where such words are spoken
destiny future or fate of an individual or thing
Along the way, Oedipus came to a narrow road between cliffs. There he met       an older man in a chariot coming the other way. The two quarreled over who       should give way, and Oedipus killed the stranger and went on to Thebes. He       found the city in great distress. He learned that a monster called the       Sphinx was terrorizing the Thebans by devouring them when they failed to       answer its riddle and that King Laius had been murdered on his way to seek       help from the Delphic oracle. The riddle of the Sphinx was "What       walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the       evening?" Oedipus gave the correct answer: "A human being,       who crawls as an infant, walks erect in maturity, and leans on a staff in       old age." With this answer, Oedipus not only defeated the Sphinx,       which killed itself in rage, but won the throne of the dead king and the       hand in marriage of the king's widow, Jocasta.
This painting on the base of an ancient cup shows Oedipus and the           Sphinx, a winged monster with the body of a lion and the head of a           woman. To rescue the people of Thebes from the monster's terror,           Oedipus had to answer its riddle.
* See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information.
Oedipus and Jocasta lived happily for a time and had two sons and two       daughters. Then a dreadful plague came upon Thebes. A prophet declared       that the plague would not end until the Thebans drove out the murderer of       Laius, who was within the city. A messenger then arrived from Corinth,       announcing the death of King Polybus and asking Oedipus to return and rule       the Corinthians. Oedipus told Jocasta what the oracle had predicted for       him and expressed relief that the danger of his murdering Polybus was       past. Jocasta told him not to fear oracles, for the oracle had said that       her first husband would be killed by his own son, and instead he had been       murdered by a stranger on the road to Delphi.
Suddenly Oedipus remembered that fatal encounter on the road and knew that       he had met and killed his real father, Laius. At the same time, Jocasta       realized that the scars on Oedipus's feet marked him as the baby whose       feet Laius had pinned together so long ago. Faced with the fact that she       had married her own son and the murderer of Laius, she hanged herself.       Oedipus seized a pin from her dress and blinded himself with it.
Some accounts say that Oedipus was banished at once from Thebes, while       others relate that he lived a miserable existence there, despised by all,       until his children grew up. Eventually he was driven into exile,       accompanied by his two daughters, Antigone and Ismene. After years of       lonely wandering, he arrived in Athens, where he found refuge in a grove       of trees called Colonus. By this time, warring factions in Thebes wanted       him to return to that city, believing that his body would bring it luck.       However, Oedipus died at Colonus, and the presence of his grave there was       said to bring good fortune to Athens.
Legacy. Thus runs the best-known account of the myth of Oedipus, preserved in Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, two dramas by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles. Most versions of       the story have followed the pattern that Sophocles set down, although an       earlier version, mentioned by Homer in the Greek epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, says that after Oedipus's identity was revealed, Jocasta hanged herself.       Oedipus, however, continued to rule Thebes, died in battle, and was buried       with honor.
prophet one who claims to have received divine messages or insights
epic long poem about legendary or historical heroes, written in a grand         style
The story of Oedipus has inspired artists and thinkers since ancient       times. The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote a tragedy entitled Oedipus that influenced writers such as England's John Dryden and Alexander Pope       and France's Voltaire and Pierre Corneille. Later artistic treatments of       the Oedipus story include a translation of Sophocles' work by Irish poet       William Butler Yeats, a play entitled The Infernal Machine by Jean Cocteau of France, music by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, and       the movie Oedipus Rex by Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Sigmund Freud, one of the       founders of modern psychiatry, used the term Oedipus complex to refer to a psychological state in which boys or men experience       hostility toward their fathers and are attracted to their mothers.