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. Jocasta tries to comfort Oedipus, telling him that he couldn't be the killer because Laius was killed by robbers at a place where three roads meet.
Meanwhile, a messenger shows up from Corinth to let Oedipus know that Polybus has died. At first, Oedipus is relieved because he thinks this means he'll never fulfill the prophecy that he'll kill his father.
The messenger totally bursts the King's bubble, though. It turns out that this guy is actually the shepherd who found Oedipus on the mountain and brought him to Corinth. So, now, Oedipus knows for sure that Polybus wasn't his real dad. Jocasta, remembering the prophecy that made her abandon her son, puts it all together at this point. She begs Oedipus not to pursue the truth any further, but he insists.
Next thing you know, the survivor of the attack shows up and confirms that Oedipus is the killer. In some versions, the survivor guy is also the dude who took baby Oedipus up on the mountain. The whole truth comes crashing down on Oedipus like a ton of bricks.
As if things weren't bad enough, Oedipus finds that Jocasta has hung herself. This makes him really go off the deep end, and he yanks a pin from her robe and stabs out his eyes. After this, Creon exiles Oedipus and the blind man wanders the wilderness with only his dedicated daughter, Antigone, to guide him.
Eventually, Oedipus and Antigone end up in a town called Colonus, which is just outside of Athens. Oedipus is broken and old, and he's been told by a prophecy that he's meant to die here in a grove dedicated to the Erinyes aka the Furies. Just then, Ismene shows up and gives them some bad news from Thebes.
It turns out that in Oedipus's absence, Polyneices and Eteocles have been sharing the rule of Athens. They'd agreed to switch off ruling Thebes every year. When the time came for Eteocles to step down, though, he refused and exiled his brother.
So, Polyneices went off and married a princess whose dad had a big army, and now he's at the gates determined to take back the throne.
Creon shows up, representing Eteocles, and tries to convince the dying Oedipus to come back to Thebes to be buried, because a prophecy has said that wherever Oedipus is buried will be blessed. Polyneices shows up too and also tries to get Oedipus's blessing. Oedipus tells them both to buzz off. In some versions, he curses his sons to kill each other in battle, because he feels like they neglected him all these years, unlike his devoted Antigone.
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. It was while he still was in Colonus that dissension grew between his sons in Thebes. As war approached, an oracle became known which stated that victory would belong to those who had Oedipus for ally. So first came Creon 2 , on behalf of Eteocles 1 , to persuade Oedipus to return to Thebes , or if persuasion failed to take him back by force.
Creon 2 attempted to force Oedipus but was prevented by Theseus , who chose to champion the rights of asylum. Later arrived Polynices, promising his father to bring him back to Thebes and re-establish him if he would support his party. But Polynices, who previously had expelled his father from Thebes , received a renewed curse from Oedipus:. Such curse I lately launched against you both, such curse I now invoke to fight for me … This curse I leave you as my last bequest: Never to win by arms your native land, nor return to Argos , but by a kinman's hand to die and slay.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus Shortly after these encounters, Oedipus died at Colonus, his grave becoming a protection for Athens. Some say that he died of natural causes, others that he killed himself, and still others believe that he died in Thebes. But the sight of this disgraced old man and former king impressed the citizens of Colonus, who reflected thus:. Next best, when born, with least delay to trace the backward way.
For when youth passes with its giddy train, troubles on troubles follow, toils on toils … Last comes the worst and most abhorred stage of unregarded age, joyless, companionless and slow, of woes the crowning woe.
Family Parentage. Jocasta Polynices Some affirm that Jocasta, called sometimes Epicasta, never wedded her son, but that Oedipus married Eurygania, daughter of Hyperphas. They also assert that there are proofs of her grief and therefore of her existence because of the fight between her sons. Genealogical Charts.
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