The Tragedy of Oedipus

Oedipus Explains the Riddle of the Sphinx by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1805

The Greeks believed in destiny and knew that man could not escape his fate, no matter what. Of all the stories, my favorite is the tragedy of Oedipus…

Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes. After having been married some time without children, his parents consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi about their childlessness. The Oracle prophesied that if Laius should have a son, the son would kill him and marry Jocasta. In an attempt to prevent this prophecy’s fulfillment, when Jocasta indeed bore a son, Laius had his ankles pinned together so that he could not crawl, and gave the boy to a servant to abandon him on the nearby mountain. However, rather than leave the child to die of exposure, as Laius intended, the sympathetic servant passed the baby onto a shepherd from Corinth.

Oedipus the infant eventually comes to the house of Polybus, king of Corinth and his queen, Merope, who adopt him as they are without children of their own. Little Oedipus is named after the swelling (edema) from the injuries to his feet and ankles.

Many years later, Oedipus is told by a drunk that Polybus is not his real father but when he asks his parents, they deny it. Oedipus seeks counsel from the same Delphic Oracle. The Oracle does not tell him the identity of his true parents but instead tells him that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. In his attempt to avoid the fate predicted by the Oracle, he decides to flee from Corinth to Thebes.

As Oedipus travels he comes to the place where three roads meet, Davlia. Here he encounters a chariot, driven by his (unrecognized) birth-father, King Laius. They fight over who has the right to go first and Oedipus kills Laius in self defense, unwittingly fulfilling part of the prophecy. The only witness of the king’s death was a slave who fled from a caravan of slaves also travelling on the road.

Continuing his journey to Thebes, Oedipus encounters a Sphinx which would stop all those who traveled to Thebes and ask them a riddle. If the travelers were unable to answer correctly, they were eaten by the sphinx; if they were successful, they would be able to continue their journey. The riddle was: “What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?”. Oedipus answers: “Man; as an infant, he crawls on all fours, as an adult, he walks on two legs and, in old age, he relies on a walking stick”. Oedipus was the first to answer the riddle correctly. Having heard Oedipus’ answer, the Sphinx is astounded and inexplicably kills itself, freeing Thebes.

Grateful, the people of Thebes appoint Oedipus as their king and give him the recently widowed Queen Jocasta’s hand in marriage. (The people of Thebes believed her husband had been killed while on a search for the answer to the Sphinx’s riddle. They had no idea who the killer was.) The marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta fulfilled the rest of the prophecy.

Check back tomorrow for more from my trip to Greece!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus