OEDIPUS

Oedipus was a mythological king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, and fated to kill his father and marry his mother.

This well-known Greek mythic figure unwittingly slew his father in a quarrel took place while crossing a road. At that time he did not know his father who was the king of Thebes. He was abandoned after birth and was found by a shepherd who took him to another king, where he was brought up as a son. However, at a party it was disclosed to him that the king was not his real father. He, then wandered in search of his real father, who met him near a crossroad where quarrel took place and he killed his own father, a truth that he was not aware of.

He then went to Thebes and there he was made king for answering the riddle of the SPHINX, in place of his real father, who was then dead and was the king. He wedded the king's widow, his own mother, the truth that he did not know, by whom he became the father of four children. On discovery of the incest Jocasta hanged
herself, and Oedipus went mad and put out his eyes.

Oedipus’ plight was used by Freud to describe his theory of Oedipal Complex.

Psychologically speaking, Oedipus did not have a complex. He absolutely did not want to kill his father or marry his mother. Further, he worked his complex out by doing just that with tragic results.

According to Greek mythology, when Oedipus was born, an oracle prophesied that Oedipus would ultimately destroy his father and marry his mother. This so disturbed his father, Laius, that he forced his wife Jocasta to agree to abandon the baby to die on the mountains.