Oedipus

In Greek Mythology, Oedipus was the King of Thebes and a Tragic Hero.
He received a prophesy from the Oracle at Delphi, that he would kill his father and marry his mother, which he then fulfilled to the detriment of himself and his family.

Oedipus is given away
- Oedipus was the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Aware of the Prophesy, they gave the infant to a shepherd to dispose of.
- But instead of leaving him to die, the shepherd gave him to King Polybus and Queen Merope to bring up as their own son.
Oedipus discovers the Prophecy
- When Oedipus grew up he visited the Oracle at Delphi and was informed of the Prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
- Thinking this meant Polybus and Merope, Oedipus moved away and travelled to Thebes.
Oedipus kills a stranger and gets married
- Whilst on the road, he quarrelled with an older man and killed him.
- When he reached Thebes he found that King Laius had recently been killed and the Sphinx was terrorising the city. When he was able to answer the Riddle of the Sphinx, the Sphinx destroyed itself.
- The city of Thebes showed its gratitude by offering Oedipus the hand in marriage of the late King’s widow, Jocasta.
Oedipus realises he has fulfilled the prophesy
- Much later, to end a plague on Thebes, Oedipus searched for the killer of King Laius and discovered that it was himself.
- He then realised that King Laius was his father and that he had married his own mother, Queen Jocasta, thus fulfilling the Prophesy.
- Upon hearing the news, his mother hanged herself. Oedipus then blinded himself with two pins from her dress.

Sophocles wrote a trilogy based on Oedipus known as the Three Theban Plays:
- Oedipus Rex
- Colonus
- Antigone

The Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud gave the name, the Oedipus Complex, to his Psychoanalytic Theory that all boys want to marry their mother and kill their father.
He referred to the same urge in girls as the Electra Complex.