What really happened to Oedipus? - Stephen Esposito

Though Oedipus would dodge death, vanquish the monstrous Sphinx, and weather wrathful plagues, the truth would prove his greatest challenger. When Oedipus’ mother, Queen Jocasta of Thebes, gave birth to him, a grim heir seized the occasion. Her husband, King Laius, had received a prophecy from Apollo’s oracle foretelling that he would die at the hands of his own son. Determined to escape this fate, Laius had the newborn’s ankles pierced, and Jocasta ordered a shepherd to abandon him on Mount Cithaeron to perish.

But divine prophecies can be quite stubborn. The shepherd took pity on the baby and gave him to another shepherd—this one from Corinth. He decided to bring the baby to the childless Corinthian king and queen, Polybus and Merope. They called the boy Oedipus, or “swollen-foot,” and raised him as their own, never revealing his true origin.

Years passed until one night, a drunken reveler told Oedipus that he was not Polybus and Merope’s son by birth—an allegation they staunchly denied. But the seeds of doubt burrowed into Oedipus’ mind. He left to seek counsel from Apollo’s oracle at Delphi, who instead delivered a deeply disturbing prophecy: Oedipus would murder his father and have children with his mother. Horrified, Oedipus determined to stay far from Corinth and the only parents he’d ever known.

He ventured towards Thebes—and thus, unwittingly, towards the city where his birth parents reigned. At a crossroads on the way, a fancy carriage threatened to run Oedipus off the road, and a lethal fight ensued. Little did Oedipus know, one of the casualties was King Laius of Thebes, his own birth father. In killing him, Oedipus had fulfilled the first half of Apollo’s prophecy.

When Oedipus reached the gates of Thebes, he was met by the treacherous Sphinx. She’d ravaged the city, posing a bewildering riddle to those she encountered and mercilessly devouring all who answered incorrectly. But when she fixed her keen, expectant gaze on Oedipus, he gave the correct response.

Thebes celebrated the Sphinx's defeat, and Oedipus married the city's recently widowed queen, Jocasta. They had four children, neither realizing they were, in fact, mother and son—or that they’d completed the second half of Apollo’s prophecy. Eventually, a devastating plague descended on Thebes. To save the city, Oedipus sent his brother-in-law to consult Apollo’s oracle. She declared that the divine plague would only relent if the killer of Thebes’ previous king, Laius, was finally revealed, then driven out or avenged with blood.

Oedipus hastily opened an investigation. He interrogated Tiresias, a blind prophet, who stayed silent before suggesting that Oedipus himself was the killer. Oedipus denied and deflected the accusation. But it stuck with him. Jocasta likewise insisted that Laius’ killer couldn’t have been Oedipus, for she'd heard that Laius was killed at a crossroads by robbers.

Yet, through conversations with a messenger from Corinth and, finally, the shepherd who’d rescued him as an infant, the truth came bearing down upon Oedipus. In searching for Laius’ murderer, he’d been looking for himself, and Apollo’s prophecy had come to pass, in all its dreadful detail. Full of fury, resentment, and shame, Oedipus rushed to kill Jocasta—but she too had realized the truth and taken her own life.

Using brooches from her dress, Oedipus blinded himself in anguish, expunging his deceitful sense of sight, which had kept him from truly seeing so much. Oedipus begged for exile, but was led back into the castle to await word from Apollo’s oracle. Thus ends Sophocles’ first play centering Oedipus.

But it wouldn’t be his final word on the tragic hero. Decades later, a roughly 89-year-old Sophocles wrote its sequel, set in Colonus, his own birthplace. It finds Oedipus, now aged and exiled, confronted with accusations of incest and patricide. Oedipus, having accepted the truth and released himself from its shame, proclaims his innocence and maintains that he committed these deeds unwittingly—and unwillingly.

Finally, Oedipus knows it’s time to go—and a divine voice urges him on. Having said his loving farewells, Oedipus then transcends—peacefully and marvelously—into death.