In a lesser-known tradition, however, Oedipus did not blind himself at all. He did this to punish himself for his unnatural crimes. In the standard version of his myth, Oedipus blinded himself after discovering that he had killed his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta. Oedipus Separating from Jocasta by Alexandre Cabanel (1843) Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Why did Oedipus blind himself? Thinking that Polybus and his wife were his parents, Oedipus left home to avoid this destiny and wound up in Thebes-where he ironically fulfilled the prophecy by killing Laius and marrying Jocasta, not realizing they were his true parents. Upon reaching adulthood, Oedipus heard the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus was found by a passing herdsman and raised by Polybus, the childless king of Corinth.

Laius had learned from an oracle that he was destined to be killed by his son, so he pierced Oedipus’ ankles with a pin and left him in the wilderness to die when he was just a baby. Oedipus was the son of Laius, the king of Thebes, and his wife Jocasta (called Epicasta in some sources). Because of this sharp reversal in fortune, Oedipus is often remembered as the great “tragic hero” of Greek mythology. When Oedipus found out what he had done, he blinded himself and went into exile. Unfortunately, this led him to inadvertently fulfill the prophecy: he killed an old man that he met on his travels (not recognizing him as his father Laius) and later married Jocasta (not knowing she was his mother) after defeating the Sphinx.

When Oedipus heard that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, he left home in an effort to avoid his fate. But the child was found by a herdsman and raised by the Corinthian king Polybus. Oedipus was abandoned in the wilderness soon after his birth when his father learned of a prophecy that he would die at the hands of his son. He suffered a tragic downfall, however, when he discovered that he had unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus, son of Laius and Jocasta, was a Greek hero and king of Thebes, celebrated for defeating the fearsome Sphinx.

Oedipus antigone