Oedipus

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Oedipus_Trilogy

Oedipus was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. Greek poets explain the name (Greek , transliterated directly as Oidipous) as meaning "swollen-foot," but this is probably a pun rather than an etymology; historically the name is more likely to have come from two elements meaning "he who knew (oid-) the Sphinx' riddle of the feet (-pous).

The myth

Laius, Oedipus' father, kidnapped and raped the young boy Chrysippus and was then cursed by Chrysippus' father, Pelops. The weight of this curse bore down onto Oedipus himself. At his birth, it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Seeking to avoid such a fate, Laius had the infant's ankles pierced with nails and had him exposed (placed in the wilderness to die). His servant, however, betrayed him, handing the boy instead to a shepherd who presented the child to King Polybus and Queen Merope (or Periboea) of Corinth, who raised him as their own son.

At a party thrown by King Polybus, a drunk guest called Oedipus a bastard. Seeking to confirm his parentage, not believing the man, Oedipus sought out the Oracle. Instead of telling him his parentage, the Oracle related the same prophecy as was told to his father; that he would kill his father and marry his mother. After descending the mountain, he met on the road to the oracle an unarmed man, riding a chariot, on his own pilgrimage. The man in the chariot demanded that Oedipus stand aside so he could pass. They argued, and Oedipus killed the stranger. The man was King Laius, Oedipus' father.

Oedipus decided that the drunkard at the party was lying, and decided not to return to home in order to avoid Polybus. As he traveled, Oedipus encountered a mystical creature that was terrorizing Thebes. Oedipus saved the city by answering the riddle of the Sphinx ("What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?": Man, as a baby man crawls on four legs; as an adult, two legs; when old, man uses a cane.) and was rewarded with the now-vacant throne of Thebes and the widowed queen Jocasta's hand in marriage. In Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus has four children with Jocasta, though this may have been a plot device he employed, as incest was not part of the original myth.

Within a short time, divine signs of misfortune and pollution began to appear in Thebes, which caused the king to seek out their cause. Finally, the seer Teiresias revealed to Oedipus that Oedipus himself was the source of the pollution. Oedipus discovered he was really the son of Laius and Jocasta and that the prophecy had indeed come to pass. Jocasta commited suicide and Oedipus blinded himself by forcing her brooch pins into his eyes.

It should be noted that the answer to the Sphinx's riddle applies to Oedipus more than any other man. As an infant with hobbled ankles, it is fair to assume he took much longer to learn to walk than normal. As a blind man in his old age, he required the use of a cane more than normal.

When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (as portrayed in the Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus and the Phoenician Women by Euripides). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried. Antigone, his sister, defied the order, but was caught. Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive, this in spite of her betrothal to his son Haemon. Antigone's sister, Ismene, then declared she had aided Antigone and wanted the same fate. The gods, through the blind prophet Teiresias, expressed their disapproval of Creon's decision, which convinced him to rescind his order, and he went to bury Polynices himself. However, Antigone had already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, Haemon attacked him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, was informed of their deaths, she too took her own life.

Works inspired by Oedipus

This legend has inspired several works of art, such as Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy, the so called Three Theban plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone), Max Ernst's Oedipus Rex, Stravinsky's opera Oedipus Rex and Enescu's opera Oédipe. It is also claimed by some that either Oedipus was the inspiration for tales of Odin or Odin was inspiration for the tales of Oedipus; also said was that a mystery cult existed that both were members of, although these theories provoke skepticism. Also, Frederich Nietzsche wrote his famous book The Birth of Tragedy based on the Oedipus myth. The story gave Sigmund Freud the name for the Oedipus complex, a primal desire on the part of a young child to completely possess the mother and kill the father (despite the fact that Oedipus actually tries to avoid this). Variants of the Oedipus complex have been posited by Austrian psychologist Otto Rank and French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Jacques Lacan.

During the 20th Century, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Woody Allen each adapted the Oedipus myth for opera, stage, and cinema. There is a comic song by Tom Lehrer which rhymes "Oedipus Rex" with "odd complex" and "Freud's index". The Doors also reference the Freudian version in the song "The End." The legend also inspired Black Adder Production Studio's film "Complex," about a boy who falls in love with his mother due to trauma caused by his father's death. Regina Spektor, a Russian pianist/songwriter, joyously sings about the story in her song "Oedipus."

In popular culture

An episode of Animaniacs is based on the story of Oedipus.
The Steven Berkoff play Greek is a modern appropriation of the story of Oedipus.
The German movie Ödipussi (starring Loriot) features a man who is still dependent on his mother even as a middle-aged man - until he falls in love.
Jason Wishnow created a movie of the Oedipus story, performed by vegetables, which has been screened at a number of film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, where it received its world premier. The movie also features the voice of Billy Dee Williams as the bartender.
Oedipus makes a brief appearance in History of the World, Part I. He is supposedly blind, yet he recognizes Josephus (Gregory Hines), who calls him a "motherfucker" in response. Josephus' use of the term is actually dead on, considering the story of Oedipus.
The Haruki Murakami novel Kafka on the Shore features a protagonist with an oedipal prophecy, although the plot plays out much differently than the Greek story
Plains, Trains, and Plantains http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/image/essay/1

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The myth

Works inspired by Oedipus

In popular culture

See also