OEDIPUS (king of Thebes who answered the Sphinx)
Hero and companion · mythical Greek king of Thebes
- Parents
- Laius, Jocasta
- Consorts
- Jocasta, Euryganeia, Astymedusa
- Children
- Polynices, Antigone, Eteocles, Ismene, Laonytus
- Haunts and cult places
- Thebes
- In the sources
- 182 ancient passages
Oedipus is the king of Thebes. Pausanias 10.17.4 +7 Oedipus is a blind old man who is a suppliant. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1-32 +3 Oedipus is the son of Laius. Diodorus 4.64 +2
Appearance
Oedipus is a blind, gray-haired, and toil-worn old man who requires a staff to walk. Euripides, The Phoenician Maidens 1530-1554 +11
In the myths
Oedipus solved the Sphinx's riddle about a creature that is biped, triped, and quadruped by identifying the answer as man, using his own wit rather than divine seership, to save the city. Apollodorus 3.5.8 +6 Oedipus killed his father without knowing who the victim was. Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 1349-1366 +3 Oedipus left Corinth to avoid fulfilling a prophecy about harming his father, believing his adoptive parents were his true ones. Apollodorus 3.5.7 +3 Shepherds found the infant Oedipus and brought him to Polybus and his wife, who raised him as their own son in Corinth. Apollodorus 3.5.7 +3 Oedipus accuses Creon of plotting to seize the throne and harming him with wicked craft. Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 513-542 +3 Oedipus killed his father Laius and the herald Polyphontes at the Cleft Road to Phocis. Apollodorus 3.5.7 +2 A herdsman exposed the infant Oedipus on Mount Cithaeron, where he was sheltered and survived the attempt on his life. Apollodorus 3.5.7 +2 Oedipus was driven from his native land by his own sons, who preferred kingship to recalling him after hearing the oracles and previously refused to help him when he was willing. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 337-384 +2 Oedipus placed a curse on his sons, praying that war would always be their portion and that they would never share his property peacefully. Euripides, The Phoenician Maidens 469-498 +2 Oedipus offers his worn-out body as a gift to Theseus, asks him to keep his promise of hospitality, and expressed gratitude for his noble and righteous care. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1014-1043 +2
Fate
Oedipus fears he will be killed, exiled, or banished from his own land and people. Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 649-659 +2 Oedipus died in the city of Thebes. The Catalogues of Women and Eoiae fr. 24 +1 An oracle predicted Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 771-799 +1 Oedipus states that he perished utterly as a result of the act and would no longer burden his children. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1579-1619 +1
