Oedipus

Laïus (Laius or Laios; Λάιος) became the king of Thebes after the death of Amphion and Zethus. He married Jocasta (Ἰοκάστη; some authors call her Epicasta), daughter of Menoeceus and sister of Creon.

Laius had at one time visited Pelops, king of Pisa, as a guest. Pelops had an illegitimate son named Chrysippus by a nymph named Astyoche or Axioche. Because of Chrysippus' beauty, Laius fell in love with the youth. When Laius was training Chrysippus in driving a chariot, he abducted the boy and raped him. Feeling shame from his rape, Chrysippus fell on his sword. Of all his sons, Chrysippus was dearest to him. Pelops laid a curse upon the Theban king that would eventually be fulfilled.

When a son named Oedipus (Oidipous; Οἰδίπους) was born to the royal couple, Laïus learned from the oracle that his son would one day kill him and have children by his mother. Horrified of that possible future, he ordered his shepherd to expose the infant child on a mountain. However, the shepherd didn't have the courage to abandon the infant in the wild, and gave Oedipus to Merope or Periboea, wife of Polybus, the king of Corinth. They brought up Oedipus in Corinth as if the child were their own.

However, when Oedipus grew to manhood, he also learned from the oracle in Delphi that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Thinking that Polybus was his real father, Oedipus decided to never return to Corinth, hoping to avoid this horrible fate.

As he travelled, he encountered Laïus in his chariot with his armed escorts on their way to Delphi. For some unknown reason, the king attacked Oedipus. Oedipus unknowingly killed his father and all but one bodyguard. Creon, Laïus' brother-in-law, became king of Thebes upon hearing of Laïus' death.

Outside of Thebes, a monster known as the Sphinx (Σφίγξ) had been killing travellers who couldn't answer her riddle. The riddle was "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?" The Sphinx had the head and chest of a woman and the body of a lion, and in many Greek paintings she might also have the wings of an eagle. Oedipus arrived and correctly answered the Sphinx' riddle, saying that it was man. Man, because an infant would crawl on its hands and feet; for most of his life, an adult would walk on two legs; but when he was old, he would have to rely on a walking stick. The Sphinx drowned herself.

When the Thebans heard that Oedipus had solved the riddle and gotten rid of the monster that had troubled their land, Creon gave the kingship to the young hero and unwittingly married his sister Jocasta to her own son. Jocasta became the mother of Eteocles, Polyneices, Antigone and Ismene.

They were happily married and over the years Thebes prospered under Oedipus' reign. Oedipus was known as a wise and just king.

After two decades, the land began to suffer from drought and famine or plague. Oedipus was determined to learn the truth of what was causing the woes to his kingdom. He learned that the plague was caused by the murder of Laïus, and his killer had gone unpunished. At the same time, he heard that Polybus had died of natural causes in Corinth.

Oedipus consulted the blind seer Teiresias, and questioned the shepherd and bodyguard. Teiresias was reluctant to tell Oedipus the truth. Gradually, Oedipus found out that Polybus wasn't his real father, nor was Merope his real mother. They had adopted him from the shepherd. From the shepherd, he learned that his father was actually Laius, and he had been left to die in the wild.

Oedipus and Jocasta realised that the fulfilment of the horrible oracle had occurred. To his horror, Oedipus realised that he had killed his own father and married his mother. Unable to deal with it, Jocasta hanged herself, while Oedipus put out his own eyes.

Death of Oedipus

When Oedipus first came to Thebes as a stranger, they welcomed him as their saviour, but with the blood of his father's on his hands, Thebes drove Oedipus out as a murderer. Oedipus went into exile, and Creon, his brother-in-law and uncle, became regent to Oedipus' two sons, Eteocles (Ἐτεοκλἣς) and Polyneices (Πολυνείκης). But the two brothers fought over the rule of Thebes, and war erupted between Thebes and Argos. Eteocles became king, while his brother was exiled. Polyneices sought refuge in Argos.

Oedipus wandered through the land, friendless and sightless; as a suppliant, he sought a place for his final rest. His daughter Antigone (Ἀντιγόνη) acted as his guide during Oedipus' journey. Ismene (Ἰσμήνη) travelled between Thebes and her father, with news about the kingdom.

According to another Athenian tragedy by Sophocles, Oedipus found a place to rest in Colonus, near Athens. Both Eteocles and Polyneices found out that if one of them managed to receive a blessing or support from their father, that son would win the war between the two of them. Instead of a blessing, Oedipus cursed both of his sons for not settling their differences. The curse would later have them kill one another in single combat.

Creon (Κρέων), Oedipus' uncle, had men to kidnap Antigone, hoping to force Oedipus into supporting Eteocles in the war, but Theseus, the Athenian hero and king, rescued her. Theseus allowed the king to die peacefully and had Oedipus buried in Colonus. Theseus returned Oedipus' daughters to Thebes. There are also other versions of Oedipus' exile and death, which I won't go into.

In the battle that followed, Thebes defeated the Argives army, but the war ended with the death of Eteocles and Polyneices. They killed one another, fulfilling their father's curse. (See Seven Against Thebes for details about the war).

Creon ruled again in Thebes, either as king or as regent to Laodamas, the son of Eteocles. Since Polyneices and the seven Argive leaders had attacked their city, no burial was allowed for their enemies. Antigone disobeyed Creon's order and buried her brother Polyneices. The other seven leaders were also given decent funerals, because of the suppliant of Adrastus to Theseus, king of Athens. Theseus and his army forced Creon and the Thebans to give up the bodies of their enemies.

Clearly, the last two works in the Theban cycle told by Sophocles were to bolster the greatness of the Athenian hero Theseus and Athens' place in the Seven Against Thebes myth.

According to the Catalogues of Women (Hesiod?), Oedipus died and was buried in Thebes; there is no mention here of Colonus or Theseus. It mentioned twice in this work that Argea, daughter of Adrastus and wife of Polyneices, came to Thebes and attended Oedipus' funeral, so this contradicts Sophocles' version that he was buried in Colonus.