Like other dramatists of his time, Sophocles wrote his plays as theatrical interpretations of the well-known myths of Greek culture—an imaginative national history that grew through centuries. Sophocles and his contemporaries particularly celebrated the mythic heroes of the Trojan War, characters who appear in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
The myth of Oedipus—which also appears briefly in Homer—represents the story of a man’s doomed attempt to outwit fate. Sophocles’ tragedy dramatizes Oedipus’ painful discovery of his true identity, and the despairing violence the truth unleashes in him.
Warned by the oracle at Delphi that their son will kill his father, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes try to prevent this tragic destiny. Laius pierces his son’s feet and gives him to a shepherd with instructions to leave the baby in the mountains to die. But pitying the child, the shepherd gives him to a herdsman, who takes the baby far from Thebes to Corinth. There, the herdsman presents the child to his own king and queen, who are childless. Without knowing the baby’s identity, the royal couple adopt the child and name him Oedipus (“swollen-foot”).
Oedipus grows up as a prince of Corinth, but hears troubling stories that the king is not his real father. When he travels to Delphi to consult the oracle, Oedipus learns the prophecy of his fate, that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he determines to avoid his terrible destiny by never returning home.
Near Thebes, Oedipus encounters an old man in a chariot with his attendants. When the old man insults and strikes him in anger, Oedipus kills the man and his servants. The old man, of course, is Oedipus’ father, Laius, but Oedipus does not realize this.
Outside Thebes, Oedipus meets the monstrous Sphinx, who has been terrorizing the countryside. The Sphinx challenges Oedipus with her riddle: “What goes on four feet at dawn, two at noon, and three at evening?” Oedipus responds with the right answer (“A man”) and kills the monster.
The Theban people proclaim him a hero, and when they learn that Laius has been killed, apparently by a band of robbers, they accept Oedipus as their king. Oedipus marries Jocasta, and they have four children. Thus, despite all his efforts to prevent it, Oedipus fulfills the dreadful prophecy.
