Oedipus

Oedipus was a mythical king of Thebes, the son of Laius and Jocasta. An oracle warned that he would kill his father and marry his mother, leading to his abandonment as an infant. Raised away from Thebes and unaware of his parentage, he later killed Laius during a dispute on the road, solved the riddle of the Sphinx and received the Theban throne and Jocasta in marriage.

The discovery of his identity turns kingship and intelligence into tragedy. In the best-known dramatic tradition, Oedipus blinds himself after Jocasta’s death and leaves Thebes, while conflict among his children continues the city’s dynastic crisis. His story became one of the central myths of Greek tragedy and a lasting exploration of knowledge, fate and responsibility.