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Spirituality & Religious Studies @spiritualityreligiousstudies.wordpress.com@spiritualityreligiousstudies.wordpress.com · 2026-08-09 · 11:11 UTC

Oedipus

Oedipus means “swollen foot.”

He was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his dad & marrying his mom, thus bringing disaster to his city & family.

The story of Oedipus is the subject of Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex, which is followed in the narrative sequence by Oedipus at Colonus & then Antigone. Together, these plays make up Sophocles’ 3 Theban plays. Oedipus represents 2 enduring themes of Greek myth & drama: the flawed nature of humanity & an individual’s role in the course of destiny in a harsh universe.

In the best-known version of the myth, Oedipus was born to King Laius & Queen Jocasta of Thebes. As the son of Laius, he bore the patronymic (paternal name) “Laiades.” Laius wanted to avoid the prophecy. So he sent a shepherd-servant to leave Oedipus to die on a mountainside.

However, the servant took pity on the baby &B passed him to another shepherd, who gave Oedipus to King Polybus & Queen Merope to raise as their own. Oedipus learned from the oracle at Delphi of the prophecy that he would end up killing his dad & marrying his mom. But unaware of his parentage, believed he was fated to murder Polybus & marry Merope. So he left for Thebes.

On his way, he met an older man, who was (unbeknownst to him) his dad, & killed him in a quarrel. Continuing on to Thebes, he found that the king of the city (Laius) had recently been killed & that the city was at the city was at the mercy of the Sphinx.

Oedipus answered the Sphinx’s riddle correctly, defeating it &winning the throne of the dead king – & the hand in marriage of the king’s widow – who was also (unbeknownst to him) his mom, Jocasta. Years later, to end a plague on Thebes, Oedipus searched to find who had killed Laius & discovered that he himself was responsible.

Jocasta, upon realizing that she had married her own son, hanged herself. Oedipus then seized 2 pins from her dress & blinded himself with them. Because Oedipus’ parents had been childless for some time, Laius consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The Oracle prophesied that any son of Laius would kill him.

In an attempt to prevent this prophecy’s fulfillment, Jocasta then gave the boy to a servant to abandon (“expose”) on the nearby mountain. Rather than leave the kid to die of exposure, the kid was passed around between “foster homes.”

The infant Oedipus was eventually adopted by King Polybus & Queen Merope of Corinth, as they were without kids of their own. Baby Oedipus was named the swelling from the injuries to his feet & ankles. After many years, Oedipus was told by a drunk that he was a “bastard,” which meant that he was illegitimate.

Oedipus then went to the same oracle in Delphi that his bio parents had consulted. The oracle informed him that he was destined to murder his dad & marry his mom. In an attempt to avoid such a fate, he decided not to return home to Corinth. But to travel to Thebes, which was closer to Delphi.

On the way, Oedipus came to Daulia, where 3 roads crossed. There he encountered a chariot driven by his bio dad, King Laius. They fought over who had the right to go 1st & Oedipus killed Laius when the charioteer tried to run him over. The only witness to the king’s death was a slave who fled from a caravan of slaves that was also travelling on the road at the time.

Continuing his journey to Thebes, Oedipus encountered a Sphinx who would stop all travelers to Thebes & ask them a riddle. If the travelers were unable to answer her correctly, they would be killed & eaten. If they succeeded, they would be free to continue on their journey.

The riddle was: “What walks on 4 feet in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, & 3 at night?” Oedipus answered correctly: “Man: as an infant, he crawls on all fours; as an adult, he walks on 2 legs; and in old age, he uses a ‘walking stick.'” Oedipus was the 1st to answer the riddle correctly. The Sphinx would then unalive itself out of embarrassment. In some versions, Oedipus unalives the Sphinx.

Queen Jocasta’s brother, Creon, had announced that any man who could rid the city of the Sphinx would be made king of Thebes & given the recently widowed Queen’s hand in marriage. This marriage of Oedipus to Jocasta fulfilled the rest of the prophecy. 4 kids would be born out of this incestuous marriage: Eteocles & Polynices &daughters Antigone & Ismene.

Many years later, a plague of infertility struck the city of Thebes, affecting all living beings. Oedipus commits to ending the plague. He then sent his uncle/brother-in-law, Creon, to the Oracle at Delphi, seeking guidance. When Creon came back, Oedipus learned that the murderer of King Laius must be brought to justice. Oedipus himself cursed the killer of his wife’s late husband, saying that he would be exiled. (This is the textbook definition of irony right here.)

Creon suggested that they attempt to find the blind prophet, Tiresias, who was widely respected. Oedipus sent for Tiresias, who warned him not to seek Laius’ killer. In a heated exchange, Tiresias was provoked into exposing himself. Oedipus as the killer, & the fact that Oedipus was living in shame because he didn’t know who his true parents were.

Oedipus angrily blamed Creon for the accusations. The 2 argued. Jocasta entered & tried to calm Oedipus by telling him the story of her 1st-born & his supposed death. Oedipus became nervous as he realized that he may have murdered Laius & so brought about the plague.

Suddenly, a messenger arrived from Corinth with the news that King Polybus had died. Oedipus was relieved, for the prophecy could no longer be fulfilled if Polybus, whom he believed to be his bio-dad, was now dead. Still, he knew that his mom was still alive & refused to attend the funeral at Corinth. To ease the tension, the messenger then said that Oedipus was, in fact, adopted.

Jocasta, finally realizing that he was her son, begged him to stop his search for Laius’ murderer. Oedipus misunderstood her motivation, thinking that she was ashamed of him because he might have been born of low birth (like a peasant). Jocasta, in great distress, went into the palace, where she hanged herself.

Oedipus sought verification of the messenger’s story from the very same herdsman who was supposed to have left Oedipus to die as a baby. From the herdsman, Oedipus learned that the infant who was raised as the adopted son of Polybus & Merope was the actual son of Laius & Jocasta.

Oedipus finally knew the truth: that the man he had killed so many years before was his bio-dad & that he had actually married his bio-mom. Events after this revelation depend on the source. In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus went in search of Jocasta & found she had unalived herself.

Using the pin from a brooch he took off Jocasta’s gown, Oedipus blinded himself & was then exiled. His daughter Antigone acted as his guide as he wandered through the country, finally dying at Colonus, where they had been welcomed by King Theseus of Athens.

In Eripides’ plays on this subject, Jocasta didn’t kill herself upon learning of Oedipus’ birth. Oedipus was blinded by a servant of Laius. The blinding of Oedipus doesn’t appear in sources earlier than Aeschylus. Some older sources of the myth, including Homer, state that Oedipus continued to rule Thebes after the revelations & Jocasta’s death.

Polynices brought in an army to oust Eteocles from his position. A battle ensued. At the end of the battle, the brothers killed each other, after which Jocasta’s brother, Creon, took the throne. He decided that Polynices was a “traitor” & shouldn’t be given burial rites. Antigone attempted to bury her brother in defiance of the edict.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon had her buried in a rock cavern for defying him, whereupon he hanged herself. However, in Euripides’ lost version of the story, it appears that Antigone survives the imposed exile.

Sigmund Freud used the name “the Oedipus complex” to explain the origin of certain neuroses in childhood. It’s defined as a male child’s unconscious desire for the exclusive love of his mom. This desire includes jealousy towards the dad & the unconscious wish for that parent’s death. As well as the unconscious desire for spicy adult time with the mom.

Oedipus himself, as portrayed in the myth, didn’t have this particular neurosis. At least not towards Jocasta, whom he only met as an adult. If anything, such feelings would’ve been directed at Merope, but there’s no hint of that. Freud reasoned that the ancient Greek audience, which heard the story told or saw the plays based on it, did know that Oedipus was actually killing his dad & marrying his mom.

The story being continually told & played therefore reflected a preoccupation with the theme.

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