Oedipus

CC 303 Intro to Classical Mythology - Fall 2009
Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Lawrence Kim

Oedipus, Laius, Jocasta, Creon, Tiresias, Corinth, Sphinx, Sophocles

1. Laius and Jocasta
   1. LAIUS flees from THEBES to court of PELOPS
   2. Rapes Chrysippus, son of Pelops; Pelops curses Laius
   3. Laius returns to Thebes, marries JOCASTA
   4. Laius learns from oracle that his own son will kill him
   5. Shepherd pities child, gives it to friend from CORINTH
   6. Friend gives it to Polybus and Merope, rulers of Corinth
   7. Child called OEDIPUS ("swollen foot")
2. The Oracle and Murder
   1. Oedipus, grown, is accused by friend of being adopted
   2. Goes to DELPHI to ask Oracle who his parents are
   3. Oracle: "You will kill your father and marry your mother"
   4. Decides to avoid Corinth and heads toward Thebes
   5. Gets abused by man and entourage at crossroads
   6. Oedipus kills them all except one
3. Thebes and the Sphinx
   1. The SPHINX (half lion, half woman, wings)
   2. No one can solve her riddle
   3. CREON, ruler in Laius' absence
   4. Creon: whoever solves riddle, rules Thebes/marries Jocasta
   5. Oedipus solves riddle
4. The Truth: SOPHOCLES' Oedipus the King
   1. A plague in Thebes; Oedipus consults the Delphic Oracle
   2. Oracle: Find and punish Laius' murderer
   3. Asks prophet TIRESIAS, who tells him that he (Oedipus) is the murderer
   4. Oedipus suspects conspiracy
   5. Slowly discovers truth, via his own investigation
   6. Jocasta hangs herself
   7. Oedipus puts out his eyes with hairpins
   8. Oedipus leaves Thebes, Creon now rules

1. The shepherd Euphorbus with the child Oedipus. Attic Red-figure amphora by the Achilles Painter, c. 450 BCE. From Vulci.
2. The Sphinx.
   
3. Oedipus and Sphinx. Attic Red-figure kylix by Douris. Vatican Museums.
4. *Oedipus and the Sphinx. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1808. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
5. *Oedipus and the Sphinx. Gustave Moreau, 1864. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
6. The Plague of Thebes. Charles Francois Jalabeat (1819-1901), no date. Antigone leads Oedipus out of Thebes. Musée des Beaux Arts, Marseilles.
7. Oedipus at Colonus. Fulchran-Jean Harriet, 1798-99. Private Collection.