Definition: As a result of an oracle that said their baby would grow up to kill his father, Laius and Jocasta ordered their baby exposed on Mt. Cithaeron. His feet were pinned together -- resulting in the swollen feet that gave him his name Oedpius. A shepherd had pity on Oedipus and brought the baby to the king of Corinth who brought him up as his own. When he grew up, Oedipus heard a prophecy that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, so he headed away from Corinth to avoid this fate. Passing a rude man whom he didn't know (but who was in reality his birth father Laius) on the road, Oedipus killed the stranger and then proceeded to Thebes, where he married the recently widowed Jocasta. When Oedipus and Jocasta learned what they had done, Jocasta killed herself and Oedipus blinded himself in order to save Thebes.
Freud named a psychological complex after Oedipus -- the Oedipal Complex.
Freud named a psychological complex after Oedipus -- the Oedipal Complex.
Also Known As: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus the King
