Oedipus

Oedipus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English" title="American English" >US</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/ˈɛdɨpəs/</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English" title="British English" >UK</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/ˈiːdɨpəs/</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek" >Ancient Greek</a>: <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%9F%E1%BC%B0%CE%B4%CE%AF%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%82" class="extiw" title="wikt:Οἰδίπους" >Οἰδίπους</a> Oidípous meaning "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch" title="Monarch" >king</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Thebes(Boeotia)" title="Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)" class="mw-redirect" >Thebes</a>, the son and killer of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laius" title="Laius" >Laius</a>, son and consort of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocasta" title="Jocasta" >Jocasta</a>, and father and sibling of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynices" title="Polynices" >Polynices</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eteocles" title="Eteocles" >Eteocles</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone" title="Antigone" >Antigone</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismene" title="Ismene" >Ismene</a>. A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_hero" title="Tragic hero" >tragic hero</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology" title="Greek mythology" >Greek mythology</a>, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled the prophecy, despite his efforts not to, that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. When the truth was discovered, his wife-mother hanged herself, and Oedipus gouged out his own eyes. They had four children together. The story of Oedipus is the subject of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophocles" title="Sophocles" >Sophocles</a>'s tragedy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_the_King" title="Oedipus the King" >Oedipus the King</a>, which was followed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_at_Colonus" title="Oedipus at Colonus" >Oedipus at Colonus</a> and then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone(Sophocles)" title="Antigone (Sophocles)" >Antigone</a>. Together, these plays make up Sophocles's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophocles#Theban_plays" title="Sophocles" >three Theban plays</a>. Oedipus represents two enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's role in the course of destiny in a harsh universe.

In the most well-known version of the myth of what happened after Oedipus was born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta, Laius wished to thwart a prophecy. Thus, he fastened the infant's feet together with a large pin and left him to die on a mountainside. The baby was found on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kithairon" title="Kithairon" >Kithairon</a> by shepherds and raised by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybus_of_Corinth" title="Polybus of Corinth" >King Polybus</a> and Queen Merope in the city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth" title="Corinth" >Corinth</a>. Oedipus learned from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia" title="Pythia" >oracle at Delphi</a> of the prophecy, but believing he was fated to murder Polybus and marry Merope, he left Corinth. Heading to Thebes, Oedipus met an older man in a chariot coming the other way on a narrow road. The two quarreled over who should give way, which resulted in Oedipus killing the stranger and continuing on to Thebes. He found that the king of the city (Laius) had been recently killed and that the city was at the mercy of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx#Greek_traditions" title="Sphinx" >the Sphinx</a>. Oedipus answered <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx#The_Riddle_of_the_Sphinx" title="Sphinx" >the monster's riddle</a> correctly, defeating it and winning the throne of the dead king and the hand in marriage of the king's widow, his mother, Jocasta.

Oedipus and Jocasta had two sons (Eteocles and Polynices) and two daughters (Antigone and Ismene). In his search to determine who killed Laius (and thus end a plague on Thebes), Oedipus discovered it was he who had killed the late king (his father). Jocasta, upon realizing that she had married her own son and Laius's murderer, hanged herself. Oedipus then seized two pins from her dress and blinded himself with them. Oedipus was driven into exile, accompanied by Antigone and Ismene. After years of wandering, he arrived in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens" title="Athens" >Athens</a>, where he found refuge in a grove of trees called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonus" title="Colonus" >Colonus</a>. By this time, warring factions in Thebes wished 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.

The legend of Oedipus has been retold in many versions, and was used by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud" title="Sigmund Freud" >Sigmund Freud</a> to name and give mythic precedent to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complex" title="Oedipus complex" >Oedipus complex</a>.

Oedipus

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