Oedipus (redirected from Oedipe)

Oedipus (ĕd`ĭpəs, ē`dĭ–), in Greek legend, son of Laius, king of Thebes, and his wife, Jocasta. Laius had been warned by an oracle that he was fated to be killed by his own son; he therefore abandoned Oedipus on a mountainside. The baby was rescued, however, by a shepherd and brought to the king of Corinth, who adopted him. When Oedipus was grown, he learned from the Delphic oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He fled Corinth to escape this fate, believing his foster parents to be his real parents. At a crossroad he encountered Laius, quarreled with him, and killed him. He continued on to Thebes, where the sphinx was killing all who could not solve her riddle. Oedipus answered it correctly and so won the widowed queen's hand. The prophecy was thus fulfilled. Two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene, were born to the unwittingly incestuous pair. When a plague descended on Thebes, an oracle declared that the only way to rid the land of its pollution was to expel the murderer of Laius. Through a series of painful revelations, brilliantly dramatized by Sophocles in Oedipus Rex, the king learned the truth and in an agony of horror blinded himself. According to Homer, Oedipus continued to reign over Thebes until he was killed in battle; but the more common version is that he was exiled by Creon, Jocasta's brother, and his sons battled for the throne (see Seven against Thebes). In Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus is guided in his later wanderings by his faithful daughter, Antigone.

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Oedipus

In Greek mythology, a king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. In the most familiar version of the story, Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that his son would slay him. When his wife, Jocasta, bore a son, he exposed the baby on a mountainside, but the infant Oedipus was saved by a shepherd and adopted by the king of Corinth. In early manhood, as Oedipus traveled toward Thebes, he met Laius, who provoked a quarrel; in the ensuing fracas, Oedipus killed him. He then rid Thebes of the destructive Sphinx by answering her riddle; as a reward he was given the throne of Thebes and the hand of the widowed queen—his mother. They had four children, including Antigone. When at last they learned the truth, Jocasta committed suicide and Oedipus blinded himself and went into exile. Oedipus has served as the hero of many tragedies, most notably Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus.

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Oedipus

exiles himself for killing father and marrying mother. [Gk. Lit.: Oedipus Rex]

See : Banishment

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Oedipus

blinded self on learning he had married his mother. [Gk. Lit.: Oedipus Rex]

See : Blindness

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Oedipus

unknowingly marries mother and fathers four sons. [Gk. Lit.: Oedipus Rex]

See : Incest

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Oedipus

lamed by Laius with a spike through his feet in infancy. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 730]

See : Lameness

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Oedipus

kills father in argument not knowing his identity. [Gk. Lit.: Oedipus Rex]

See : Patricide

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Oedipus

blinds self upon learning of his crimes. [Gk. Lit.: Oedipus Rex]

See : Remorse