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Oedipus: King Oedipus
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Oedipus ruled as wise and just king, but when he discovered that he was murderer of his father and had committed incest with his mother. Oedipus gouged out his own eyes. Either Creon or the people of Thebes banished the blind king from the kingdom. In Oedipus in Colonus, Creon abducted Antigone, Oedipus' daughter, trying to force Oedipus to favour Eteocles in the war against Oedipus' other son, Polyneices.
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In Sophocles' Antigone, when Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (as portrayed in the Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus and the Phoenician Women by Euripides). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried. Antigone, his sister, defied the order, but was caught.
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When Oedipus first came to Thebes as a stranger, they welcomed him as their saviour, but with blood of his father's on his hands, Thebes drove Oedipus out as a murderer. Oedipus went into exile; and his brother-in-law and uncle, Creon became regent to Oedipus' two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. But the two brothers fought over the rule of Thebes, and war erupted between Thebes and Argos. Eteocles became king, while his brother was exiled. Polyneices sought refuge in Argos.
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When Oedipus answered the riddle correctly, the Sphinx was so upset that she killed herself. Oedipus went on into Thebes. When he got there, the Thebans were very upset because somebody had killed their king, Laius. But they were happy to hear that Oedipus had figured out the riddle of the Sphinx. So they made Oedipus their new king. As part of becoming the new king, Oedipus married the queen, Jocasta.
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Lonely and homeless, Oedipus arrived at Thebes, which was beset by a dreadful monster called the Sphinx. The frightful creature frequented the roads to the city, killing and devouring all travelers who could not answer the riddle that she put to them: What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening? The answer was a human being, who in infancy crawls on all fours, in adulthood walks upright on two legs, and in old age uses a cane. When Oedipus solved her riddle, the Sphinx killed herself. Believing that King Laius had been slain by unknown robbers, and grateful to Oedipus for ridding them of the Sphinx, the Thebans rewarded Oedipus by making him their king and giving him Queen Jocasta as his wife. For many years the couple lived in happiness, not knowing that they were really mother and son.
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Oedipus has unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy issued at his birth by the Delphic oracle, that he would in time kill his father and marry his mother. When the play opens, Oedipus is King of Thebes. The city is suffering a great plague, and Oedipus has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle to seek advice. The oracle reveals that Thebes is being punished for harboring the murderer of Laius, the city's former King. Oedipus determines to find the murderer, and turns to the blind prophet Teiresias for help. Teiresias informs him that he, Oedipus, murdered Laius, and Oedipus flies into a rage.
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