Oedipus

American  

[ed-uh-puhs, ee-duh-] / ˈɛd ə pəs, ˈi də- /

noun

Greek Legend.

1. a king of Thebes, the son of Laius and Jocasta, and the father by Jocasta of Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone, and Ismeme: as was prophesied at his birth, he unwittingly killed his father and married his mother and, in penance, blinded himself and went into exile.

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Oedipus British  

/ ˈiːdɪpəs /

noun

1. Greek myth the son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes, who killed his father, being unaware of his identity, and unwittingly married his mother, by whom he had four children. When the truth was revealed, he put out his eyes and Jocasta killed herself

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Oedipus Cultural  

1. In classical mythology, a tragic king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. The Delphic oracle predicted that King Laius of Thebes, a city in Greece, would be killed by his own son. To save himself, Laius ordered his newborn son placed on a mountaintop and left to starve. The infant was rescued by a shepherd and raised in a distant city, where he was given the name Oedipus. Years later, King Laius was killed while on a journey by a stranger with whom he quarreled. Oedipus arrived at Thebes shortly thereafter and saved the city from the ravages of the Sphinx. He was proclaimed king in Laius' stead, and he took the dead king's widow, Jocasta, as his own wife. After several years a terrible plague struck Thebes. The Delphic oracle told Oedipus that to end the plague, he must find and punish the murderer of King Laius. In the course of his investigation, Oedipus discovered that he himself was the killer and that Laius had been his real father. He had therefore murdered his father and married his mother, Jocasta. In his despair at this discovery, Oedipus blinded himself.

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Discover More

The Oedipus complex, identified by the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, takes its name from the story of Oedipus.

The story of Oedipus is the subject of the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

Example Sentences

Pennington also had roles in several BBC productions, including The Witches of Pendle, Oedipus The King and an adaptation of Middlemarch.

From BBC • May 11, 2026

Or is it only the archetypal Oedipus and Antigone who fascinate us?

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Lesley Manville is recognised for her role in Greek tragedy Oedipus, and Lithgow for his portayal of Roald Dahl in Giant - both of which previously played in the West End.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

Oedipus knew that it was us, from crawling baby to upright maturity to old age, when a staff or cane becomes a third foot.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

Other examples of modifiers include the underlined words in the phrases walks on four legs, swollen feet, met him on the road to Thebes, and the shepherd whom Oedipus had sent for.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker