In the times of the reign of the Olympian gods, it was not all adventures and fantastic journeys. There were also mortal kings that marked Greek mythology, being king oedipus one of them. Before reaching the throne, he was a child abandoned by his parents, although over the years, life found them again.
I invite you to read about a tragic story where a king could not escape his fate, fixed by an evil oracle from before his birth. The existence of Oedipus was already marked and it happened just as they had foreseen, spending his last days in misery and deep pain.
Who were the parents of Oedipus?
This is the story of Oedipus, a little prince son of two mortals: Layo and Jocasta. These husbands wanted to see their future through oracle of delphi, as was always the custom in ancient Greek times.
This oracle did not bring him anything good for this unborn baby. He told his parents that his firstborn would kill him and marry his mother, for which Laius was very concerned. When the child was born, his father sent his friend to disappear him, but he did not have the heart to end his life. So he tied his feet to a tree on Mount Citeron.
Destined to die a good shepherd named Forbas found him and took him to his master Polibo, king of Corinth. He in turn takes it to his beloved wife, queen Merope. She, pleased by the act of compassion of her dear husband, decides to stay with him. They both adopt the child as their child and they call it oedipus, which for them meant "swollen feet." Since then he becomes the prince of Corinth.
How does Oedipus discover the truth of his life?
Oedipus during his adolescence looked very well trained in military exercises. Their other classmates were envious of them, that's why they told them: "You are adopted, your real parents never loved you." Oedipus, hurt by these harsh words, asks the queen the truth of her origin: “tell me mother, is it true that you are not my mother? Who are my parents?". To which Queen Merope always said it was her and no one else.
However, he still had doubts, so dismayed, decides to go to the oracle of Delphi to hear his version. There he heard the saddest thing in his life: he was not the son of the kings of Corinth, his parents were the kings of Thebes, who did not love him because of his bitter fate. His omen was horrible, dire. So he recommended that he never go to Thebes. But Oedipus did not obey, he went immediately to Phocida, from that moment the misfortunes of the announced prophecies began to be fulfilled.
How were the Oedipus prophecies fulfilled?
Oedipus' confusion led him to fulfill his fearful destiny that the oracle had sentenced him. Eager to get rid of his omen, he did not go to Corinth but to Thebes, where they would come true. On the way he met a group of men whom he annihilated because he believed they were going to attack him, one of them was King Laius, his real father. But Oedipus did not know yet and it would take a long time to discover the truth.
Later he was attacked by a great hideous monster whom all travelers feared. He was dedicated to attacking the travelers if they did not answer his enigmas. It was about the Sphinx, a strange creature with the body of a dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of birds, the hands of a woman, the claws of a lion, the face of a maiden, and a male voice. When Oedipus confronted her on the road she told him the riddle, which he correctly deciphered. So she disintegrated and would never attack again.
Everyone celebrated the destruction of the Sphinx. They threw a big party and celebrated because he would no longer attack another person. Also, behind all this was the promise of Creon, the late King Laius' ex-brother-in-law. He offered the hand of his sister Jocasta and the kingship to the one who managed to bring down the Sphinx. This is how the second prophecy of the oracle would be fulfilled: the first-born would marry his mother.
The final destination of Oedipus
Once the hateful Sphinx is destroyed, Oedipus and Jocasta marry as offered by his brother. During their lives, they had children and were really happy reigning Thebes. Until misfortune came to the region. A fierce plague of catastrophic events invaded the peace and prosperity of the inhabitants, forcing them to turn to their king Oedipus to seek a solution.
Thebans of all ages head to the palace with laurel and olive branches. Along with them was the priest of Zeus, who speaks to Oedipus on behalf of his people: "Thebes, is dismayed by misfortune and can not raise his head from that lethal abyss in which it is submerged ...". King Oedipus listens to them attentively and then they go home.
Meanwhile, it is coming Creon with news given from the oracle of the god Apollo. This news is not encouraging at all for the king, since it is discovered that King Laius was assassinated without justice. The god ordered to punish those who did it, regardless of who they were. Once justice was done, Thebes would return to normal.
In search of a solution, the king orders to gather wise characters such as: Corifeo, Corifeo, Tiresias, the former messenger of King Polibo, the former shepherd of Laius and even his wife Yocasta. Listening to each, the unfortunate Oedipus came to the conclusion that the horrendous prophecy of the oracle, to which he so much fled from him, had been fulfilled.
What was the tragic result? Oedipus is exiled from Thebes along with his children. Jocasta committed suicide seeing that everything had happened. The nation was reborn again and they led a normal life. Thus conclude the last days of Oedipus the king, an unfortunate man marked with a bad omen since before his birth and always persecuted him until the end of his life.
