Oedipus Rex Reflection

The story of Oedipus begins with King Laius of Thebes. During his reign, he marries Jocasta, his distant cousin, from there an oracle sent from Apollo, the God of Truth, tells Laius his son will kill him, and King Laius fears the possibility this could happen, so he takes his newborn son, binds his feet together, and sets him on a desolate mountaintop to die. Years later, Laius and a group of attendants are killed. There is one person that survives and travels back to Thebes to reveal what occurred, and everyone is told that Laius and his group of attendants were travelling across mountains when they were killed by a group of robbers. The murders are not fully investigated because at the time, Thebes has fallen under the mercy of a Sphinx.

What made the Sphinx so deadly was its game with the Thebans and travelers. The Sphinx would wait by the roads leading the city and force a riddle upon any person passing through. If they answered the riddle correctly they would be let go, however, her riddles were far too difficult, so she ate every person who gave a wrong answer. Although, one day a courageous and intelligent man comes along, his name is Oedipus. He has traveled from his homeland Corinth in efforts to avoid a “different” Delphic oracle about him which states he would kill his father, and at the time he thought his father was King Polybus. So, when he arrives, the Sphinx asks him a riddle, and to her surprise he answers correctly. Then, inexplicably the sphinx kills herself. Grateful for his bravery, the Thebans make Oedipus their King and he marries the widow Jocasta (Laius’