Oedipus

Myth

When Amphion and Zéthos had taken possession of Thèbes, Laïos took refuge near Pélops but removed the son of its host, Chrysippe. The god Apollon sent an oracle then to him: to punish it, if it generated a son, this one would kill it and marry his/her mother.

Laïos took again possession of its kingdom after the death of Amphion and Zéthos, and married Jocaste. Remembering oracle, to the birth of his son, it gave it to a servant to give up it on the Mont Cithéron, after having made transpierce its feet with a nail so that it does not flee. But instead of obeying, the servant gave the child to a shepherd who carried it to the king of Corinthe, Polybe, and with his wife, Mérope. The couple, which did not have a child, raised the baby like their own child and the name of Oedipus gave him, because of the deformation of its feet ( Οἰδίπους / Oidípous means “swollen feet”, of οἰδέω / oidéô , “to inflate, swell” and πούς / poús , “foot”).

When Oedipus had grown, a somewhat drunk man revealed to him, during a banquet, that he was not the son of Polybe. He went then to Delphes to know the identity of his true parents. He had for only answer which he would kill his father and would marry his mother. He decided for this reason not to turn over never again to Corinthe and started to travel in direction of Thèbes: by chance, it met Laïos, with a crossroads where three roads crossed. They disputed and Oedipus killed his father without recognizing it.

He continued to Athens which, at that time, was terrorized by the Sphinx, a monster which killed all those which could not answer the enigma that he posed to them. Créon, brother of Jocaste and regent of Thèbes, offered the kingdom and the marriage with Jocaste with whoever could destroy this plague (the capacity was matrilinéaire, it was thus necessary to marry the woman of the former king to become king). Did Oedipus find the answer to the enigma (Which is the animal which walks to four legs in the morning to two legs at midday and three legs the evening? Answer: human, which goes to four legs when he is baby, to two legs in the medium of its life, and to three legs when, old man, he is pressed on a cane), and the Sphinx gave itself death. Oedipus married Jocaste, of which it had two wire, Étéocle and Polynice, like two girls Antigone and Ismène.

According to Homère, when it was discovered that Oedipus had married his mother, the latter hung oneself, but Oedipus continued to reign on Thèbes. In the tragedy of Sophocle, Oedipus king , the discovery was precipitated by the plague and the famine, and by a declaration of the Oracle de Delphes according to which these calamities would disappear only if the murderer of Laïos were driven out city. The efforts of Oedipus turned to the servant who quite front had entrusted a baby to a shepherd and it is that he was the baby in question. In fact to discover the truth, it appeared that he was at the same time the son and the murderer of Laïos; Jocaste was hung and Oedipus burst the eyes.

Créon was relieved and was withdrawn. It was initially locked up in Thèbes. Then it left in exile, wandering, until Colone, in Attique, where it was under the protection of Thésée and where it died. According to the legend, his/her Antigone daughter would have carried out to it as a beggar and gave up it in front of the palate of Thésée.

His sons being quarreled for the succession with the throne, Oedipus, before dying, launched a curse to them: they would give each other death mutually.

Posterity of the character

In the literature

The legend of Oedipus is the subject many old and contemporary literary works:

Oedipus king and Oedipus in Colone , Greek tragedies of Sophocle;
Oedipus , Roman tragedy of Sénèque;
Romance of Thèbes , anonymous work of the 12th century;
Oedipus of Voltaire;
Seven against Thèbes of Eschyle;
the Explosive device of Jean Cocteau;
Oedipus of Andre Gide;
Oedipus on the road of Henry Bauchau;
Tales and legends of Greek mythology of Claude Pouzadoux
Riddle 4 feet, 2 feet and 3 feet

The history existed however already in the Oral tradition well before being written.

There were many recoveries and adaptations throughout the centuries, and this legend also inspired by many works and receipt of very many winks and recalls in the literature.

In music

Œdipus rex (1927), opera of Igor Stravinski.
Oedipus (1931), opera of Georges Enesco.

In the French language

" To have the ankles which enflent" : this expressions says quelk' one which is more or less never called in question. The reference to Oedipus becomes clear when it is learned that it was one of its character traits and when it is understood that its name means " literally; feet enflés".

With the cinema

Oedipus king , film of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

In Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud named Oedipus complex, the leaning in love one with the boys with regard to their mother, and Electra complex her equivalent female.

See too

Oedipus complex Oedipus king

External bonds

Biography of Oedipus in the encyclopedia Insecula
Oedipus: the myth and the complex: gate of the Psychoanalysis

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