Why is Oedipus cursed?
Oedipus is a mythical Greek character. His name is a British English translation of swollen foot. An heir to the king and queen of Thebes, Oedipus was an abandoned infant. He was abandoned by his father, King Laius, because of a prophecy made by the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The couple sought consultation to the Oracle because it has been years that they were married and they still don’t have a child. According to the prophecy, Queen Jocasta will bear a son who will kill her father and marry her mother. When Oedipus was indeed born, his father tied his feet and asked a servant to dispose the child. But out of pity, Oedipus was passed from shepherd to shepherd. Oedipus eventually reached the kingdom of Corinth, where he was adopted by King Polybus and Queen Merope, who were childless as well.
The prophecy of the Oracle of Apollo is rooted from a curse that was placed upon King Laius. There was an event that happened in the court of Pelops, who is the king of Pisa. The couples were invited as guests in the event. As the event progressed, King Laius took sexual advantage of King Pelops’s son, Chrysippus. King Pelops was enraged by his act and cursed King Laius that any son born by the Queen of Thebes, Jocasta, will put King Laius to death.
True, indeed, Oedipus unknowingly killed his father, King Laius, in a battle on his way to Thebes. And as he arrived Thebes, which was terrorized by the presence of the monster Sphinx, he was challenged to answer the riddle the Sphinx had given. When he blurted the correct answer, the Sphinx left in doom and won the prize of marrying her own mother. Thus, the prophecy was fulfilled.
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