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Oed·i·pus

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s, ee-duh-] Pronunciation Key

–noun Greek Legend.

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

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Oed·i·pus Audio Help (ěd'ə-pəs, ē'də-) Pronunciation Key
n. Greek Mythology
A son of Laius and Jocasta, who was abandoned at birth and unwittingly killed his father and then married his mother.

[Latin, from Greek Oidipous : oidein, to swell + pous, foot; see octopus.]

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oedipus
noun
(Greek mythology) a tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta; the subject of the drama 'Oedipus Rex' by Sophocles

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Oedipus [(ed-uh-puhs, ee-duh-puhs)]

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.