You'll be billed after your free trial ends. Oedipus - Mythical Greek King of Thebes | Mythology.net He left their daughters, Antigone and Ismene, in the care of Creon and headed into bitter exile. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta (Iocaste; in Homer, Epicaste), bore a son, he had the baby exposed (a form of infanticide) on Cithaeron. The child was named Oedipus, and was brought up as the prince of Corinth. Thebes is menaced rather than protected by the heavens. The story of Oedipus is arguably the most profound and influential of all the Greek myths, the basis of Sophocles fifth-century BC drama, Oedipus Rex. Aeschylus also wrote a trilogy about Oedipus and his sons, and so did Euripides with hisPhoenician Women. Once Oedipus was an adult, he learned from the oracle at Delphi that he would kill his father and commit incest with his mother. The shepherd could not leave the child in that way, so he took Oedipus to the court of King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. In his Odyssey, Homer calls her Epicaste. Oedipus was the son of King Laius of Thebes and Queen Jocasta. As soon as Oedipus solved the riddle, the Sphinx killed herself by leaping from her cliff. To prevent this from happening, he killed King Laius. Oedipus duly became King of Thebes and married Jocasta, the widow of the previous King, Laius, who had recently died. See Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 711ff; Euripides, Phoenician Women 13ff; Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History 4.64.12; Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.5.10, 10.5.3; Apollodorus, Library 3.5.7; Hyginus, Fabulae 66; etc. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? And Laius was killed by robbers on the road, so that prophecy was clearly false. (one code per order). Edmunds, Lowell. When Oedipus desired to know more about his parentage, he consulted the Delphic Oracle, only to be told that he must not go to his home or he would kill his father and marry his mother. The leader of the Chorus asks Oedipus to calm down, but Tiresias only taunts Oedipus further, saying that the king does not even know who his parents are. Pherecydes, FHG 1 F 47 (reported in the scholia on Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 785). Oedipus had killed his father. Oedipus begs him to reveal who Laius's murderer is, but Tiresias answers only that he knows the truth but wishes he did not. This is how his name was chosen, as Oedipus means "swollen foot". The Oracle at Delphi prophesied that the son of Laius and Jacosta would kill his father and marry his mother. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY. Wed love to have you back! Oedipus. Similarly, Narcissus, in another famous Greek myth, actually shunned other people before he fell in love with his own reflection, and yet we still talk of someone who is obsessed with their own importance and appearance as being narcissistic.
