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. Polynices Haemon Eteocles She was not meant to be married. Which god did Athenian theatrical performances celebrate?
Athena Zeus Dionysus Sophocles. Which of the following characters remains alive throughout the three Theban plays? Oedipus Creon Antigone Jocasta. Where was Laius killed? On a one-lane bridge Between a rock and a hard place In the mountains of Corinth At a three-way crossroads.
He kidnaps his daughters. He bribes Theseus. He threatens war with Polynices. He promises Oedipus new eyes. What does Oedipus prophecy about Polynices and Eteocles? They will rule Thebes together. They will be betrayed by Creon. They will sleep with their mother and kill their father. Ismene Antigone Oedipus Eteocles. Which of the following deaths occurs onstage? They went in and saw Antigone hanging from a noose, and Haemon raving.
The messenger tells Creon that he has another reason to grieve: Eurydice has stabbed herself, and, as she died, she called down curses on her husband for the misery his pride had caused. Creon kneels and prays that he, too, might die. His guards lead him back into the palace. A plague has stricken Thebes.
The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city.
Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle. Only one of his fellow travelers escaped alive. Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind prophet, and asks him what he knows about the murder. Tiresias responds cryptically, lamenting his ability to see the truth when the truth brings nothing but pain.
At first he refuses to tell Oedipus what he knows. Oedipus curses and insults the old man, going so far as to accuse him of the murder. These taunts provoke Tiresias into revealing that Oedipus himself is the murderer.
He accuses Creon and Tiresias of conspiring against his life, and charges Tiresias with insanity. He asks why Tiresias did nothing when Thebes suffered under a plague once before. At that time, a Sphinx held the city captive and refused to leave until someone answered her riddle. Oedipus brags that he alone was able to solve the puzzle.
At this mention of his parents, Oedipus, who grew up in the distant city of Corinth, asks how Tiresias knew his parents.
But Tiresias answers enigmatically. Then, before leaving the stage, Tiresias puts forth one last riddle, saying that the murderer of Laius will turn out to be both father and brother to his own children, and the son of his own wife. After Tiresias leaves, Oedipus threatens Creon with death or exile for conspiring with the prophet.
As proof, she notes that the Delphic oracle once told Laius he would be murdered by his son, when in fact his son was cast out of Thebes as a baby, and Laius was murdered by a band of thieves. Jocasta tells him that Laius was killed at a three-way crossroads, just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes.
Oedipus, stunned, tells his wife that he may be the one who murdered Laius. He tells Jocasta that, long ago, when he was the prince of Corinth, he overheard someone mention at a banquet that he was not really the son of the king and queen. He therefore traveled to the oracle of Delphi, who did not answer him but did tell him he would murder his father and sleep with his mother.
Hearing this, Oedipus fled his home, never to return. It was then, on the journey that would take him to Thebes, that Oedipus was confronted and harassed by a group of travelers, whom he killed in self-defense. This skirmish occurred at the very crossroads where Laius was killed. Oedipus sends for the man who survived the attack, a shepherd, in the hope that he will not be identified as the murderer. Outside the palace, a messenger approaches Jocasta and tells her that he has come from Corinth to inform Oedipus that his father, Polybus, is dead, and that Corinth has asked Oedipus to come and rule there in his place.
He now feels much more inclined to agree with the queen in deeming prophecies worthless and viewing chance as the principle governing the world. But while Oedipus finds great comfort in the fact that one-half of the prophecy has been disproved, he still fears the other half—the half that claimed he would sleep with his mother.
The messenger, a shepherd by profession, knows firsthand that Oedipus came to Corinth as an orphan. One day long ago, he was tending his sheep when another shepherd approached him carrying a baby, its ankles pinned together. The messenger took the baby to the royal family of Corinth, and they raised him as their own.
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