Laius

American  

[ley-uhs, ley-ee-uhs] / ˈleɪ əs, ˈleɪ i əs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a king of Thebes, the husband of Jocasta and father of Oedipus: unwittingly killed by Oedipus.

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Laius British  

/ ˈlaɪəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a king of Thebes, killed by his son Oedipus, who did not know of their relationship

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Example Sentences

And the revisions pertaining to Jocasta’s marriage to Laius, who was killed in a car accident decades before, bring a discomfiting and topical contemporary edge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

What’s more, he vows to reopen an investigation into the death of Laius, the former leader who died 34 years ago under circumstances that have allowed rumor and innuendo to fester.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025

Jocasta tries to reassure her husband that oracles don’t always get it right by telling him that one once told Laius that he would die by his son’s end.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2020

Unlikely as it may look from the bleachers, Piersall suffered from what has been called the Laius complex.*

From Time Magazine Archive

Or consider the sentence from the Wikipedia entry on Oedipus: The baby, he says, was given to him by another shepherd from the Laius household, who had been told to get rid of the child.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker