Where is oedipus born

Previous Next. Detailed Summary Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes, are having no luck conceiving a child. So, the king goes to the Oracle of Delphi to figure out what the deal is.

The Oracle is all like, "I've got good news and bad news. For some ridiculous reason, Laius decides to keep sleeping with his wife despite this prophecy. Eventually, Jocasta gets pregnant and gives birth to a bouncing baby boy. To try and avoid the prophecy, Lauis pierces the baby's ankles, binding them together with a pin, and abandons his son on the slopes of Mt. Father of the year, right? Later, a kindly shepherd comes by and finds the baby boy.

He takes the child to Polybus and Merope, the King and Queen of Corinth, who don't have any children. The royal couple is all about the cute kid, and they decide to raise him as their own. They name him Oedipus , which means "swollen ankles," because of the way the pins in his ankles have swollen them. In some alternate versions, Laius puts Oedipus in a chest and throws him into the sea.

Polybus finds him and names him Oedipias, which means "child of the swollen sea. Just sayin'. Oedipus grows up thinking that Polybus and Merope are his legit parents. One day, though, some random drunk dude at a feast calls out that the royal couple aren't his real parents. Oedipus doesn't quite buy it, though, so he trucks it over to the Oracle of Delphi to get the truth of the whole thing.

As usual, the Oracle's prophecy is a little bit of a downer The priestess totally dodges the question of who Oedipus's real parents are, but does let him know that he's destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus is totally freaked out by the prophecy. Understandable, right? The prince decides to never return home to Corinth, fearing that he'll kill Polybus and sleep with Merope, whom he assumes must be his real parents. The Oracle didn't bother to tell him otherwise, so they must be, right?

Oedipus goes out a-wanderin' and comes upon a place where three roads meet. A few dudes roll up to the crossroads and tell Oedipus to get out of the way. Oedipus is all like, "No way, you get out the way.

Our hero pulls out some major ninja moves and manages to kill the guys with only one survivor running away. Man, it looks like the ancient Greeks had major road rage. Oedipus walks off thinking he's a totally awesome warrior, but what he doesn't know is that one of the guys he's just killed is his real father, Laius, the king of Thebes.

Eventually, Oedipus makes his way to Thebes, which is having some serious trouble. Their king is nowhere to be found and a Sphinx has taken up residence outside of the city. The Sphinx is a crazy monster with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lioness, the wings of a bird, and some say a snake for a tail.

Her favorite activity is sitting on a big rock outside of Thebes and asking everybody a riddle. When people get it wrong and they always do she strangles them, or eats them, or some other such awful thing. Creon has offered the hand of the queen and the throne of Thebes to any man who can get rid of the Sphinx.

When Oedipus hears this, he's like, "Awesome. I am totally going to rock this out. The monster swoops down on him and asks her riddle. In a mysterious voice, she purrs, "Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? It's because we humans crawl on all fours when we're babies, walk upright in our prime, and some walk with a cane when we're old. The Sphinx is so upset that somebody figured out her riddle that she throw herself of a cliff and dies.

Dude, she took her riddle mad seriously. When Oedipus shows up in Thebes and announces his deed, everybody thinks he's awesome. Creon makes good on his word, giving him the throne and the hand of Jocasta. Wow, everything is working out great for Oedipus.

Oh, wait, except for the fact that he just unknowingly married his mother. Oedipus and Jocasta get along swell and have a bunch of kids: Antigone, Ismene, Polyneices, and Eteocles. Eventually, though, a terrible plague comes to Thebes.

Everybody is dying and everything sucks. Even the livestock are suffering. King Oedipus sends Creon to the Oracle of Delphi to find out what's going on. The Oracle, in her typically cryptic fashion, declares that the killer of Laius is living in Thebes and must be expelled.

When Creon tells Oedipus this, the King swears that he'll figure out who the killer is and exile the jerk like nobody's business. Creon suggests that Oedipus call in the help of Tiresias , the famous seer, who knows pretty much everything about everything.

At first, Tiresias really doesn't want to tell Oedipus what's up, and the seer advises the king to stop seeking the truth.

Oedipus flips out and threatens him, though, and Tiresias finally tells the King that he's actually the murderer that he's looking for. Oedipus doesn't want to believe it, and he accuses Creon and Tiresias of being allied against him. This is how Oedipus came to manhood in the court of King Polybus 4 , and as he proved to be a corageous young man, his companions taunted him, out of envy, with not being the king's son because, they said, King Polybus 4 was so mild and Oedipus so assertive.

So as the doubt grew in Oedipus' mind, he asked first Queen Periboea 4 , but not being able to learn anything from her, he went to Delphi in order to inquire of the oracle about his true parents. The Oracle answered him not to go back to his native land because, if he did, he would murder his father and lie with his mother. Having heard the prophecy, Oedipus left Delphi resolved to obey it, but believing himself to be the son of the royal couple who had adopted him, he did not return to Corinth.

First part of the oracle fulfilled. When they met in the narrow road, the king's herald Polyphontes 1 ordered Oedipus to give way; but as Oedipus delayed, the herald killed one of his horses, or as others say, the king urged on his own horses and a wheel grazed Oedipus' foot. In any case, the enraged Oedipus slew the herald, and dragging Laius 1 from the chariot, killed him too.

The Sphinx. It is during his rule that a new and heavy calamity befell Thebes : the Sphinx appeared in Boeotia, laying waste the Theban fields and declaring that it would not depart unless someone interpreted the riddle that she proposed, and that, in the meantime, she would destroy whoever failed to give the correct answer. Proclamation of the Government of Thebes In order to face the threat, Creon 2 made a proclamation throughout Hellas, promising that he would give the kingdom of Thebes along with his sister Jocasta in marriage to the person solving the riddle of the Sphinx.

It was not difficult to find candidates; for when it comes to acquiring power, property, and women, there are always many disposed to go through no matter which risks and atrocities. Accordingly, many came and many were destroyed by the Sphinx , who gobbled them up one after the other.

Archaeological Museum, Corinth. After many men had perished, Oedipus heard the proclamation and came to Thebes , declaring that he had solved the riddle. So he went up, and meeting the Sphinx , he asserted that the riddle referred to man because as a little child he is four-footed, going on his arms and legs, as an adult he is two-footed, and as an old man he gets a third limb in a staff. This Oedipus knew only too well, who had his own feet mutilated, and already used a staff; but on hearing the solution, the Sphinx kept her promise and destroyed herself by throwing herself down from the citadel.

Oedipus King. This is how, after having fulfilled the first part of the oracle by unwittingly killing his father, the way opened for him to fulfil the second part: Oedipus succeeded to the kingdom, and not knowing who she was, he married his own mother Jocasta, who in time gave him children: Polynices, Eteocles 1 , Ismene 2 , and Antigone 2 , his own offspring and yet his brothers and sisters.

Crisis persists. Some think that Heaven dislikes this kind of family configuration, and that because of it, barrenness of crops and hunger fell on Thebes , along with a plague that an oracle attributed to blood-guiltiness related to the death of Laius 1.

The Seer's Panacea. The plague was worst, and in order to deliver the city, the seer Tiresias was consulted. He then replied that if anyone died voluntarily for his country, the city would be free from the pestilence.

Oedipus "exposed" anew. Despite Menoeceus 1 's self-sacrifice, the troubles continued. For when King Polybus 4 of Corinth , whom Oedipus believed to be his father, died, Queen Periboea 4 decided that the time had come to reveal the circumstances around Oedipus' adoption.

Also the seer Tiresias , who recommended the sacrifice of Creon 2 's father, and who, on a later occasion advised the sacrifice of Creon 2 's son, appears now to have known the truth from the very beginning:. Sophocles, Oedipus the King End of Oedipus' kingship.

Having realized his plight, Oedipus tore the brooches from his mother's garment and blinded himself. He gave the kingdom for alternate years to his sons Polynices and Eteocles 1 , but he also cursed them and was forced by them to go into exile, being then accompanied by his daughter Antigone 2.

It has also been told that before Oedipus went into exile, his sons hid him behind bars, hoping that the disgrace might be forgotten, and that while he still was living in the house, he made the most unholy curses against his sons, praying that they may divide their inheritance with a sharp sword.

Since the brothers were scared by these curses, they agreed to alternate as kings, a deal they did not respect. And it is told that when Oedipus wished to leave Thebes he was not allowed to do so, but when he grew accustomed to stay at home, even as a prisoner, he was expelled. Jocasta, his mother and wife, committed suicide; according to some, she hanged herself in a noose, but others say that she killed herself with a sword.

Oedipus' abdication did not lead to peace and prosperity in Thebes , but to the destruction that comes from civil war and foreign intervention. Oedipus' accursed sons did not respect their deal concerning the kingdom, and they indeed divided their inheritance by the sword. Oedipus in exile.

There he was hospitably received by King Theseus of Athens.