Oedipus, in Greek mythology, the king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. Homer related that Oedipus’s wife and mother hanged herself when the truth of their relationship became known, though Oedipus apparently continued to rule at Thebes until his death.
Oedipus, in Greek mythology, the king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. Homer related that Oedipus’s wife and mother hanged herself when the truth of their relationship became known, though Oedipus apparently continued to rule at Thebes until his death. In the post-Homeric tradition, most familiar from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (or Oedipus the King) and Oedipus at Colonus, there are notable differences in emphasis and detail. According to one version of the story, Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that his son would slay him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta (Iocaste; in