a summary of oedipus

oedipus：

Oedipus was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. Greek poets explain the name (Greek Οἰδίπους, transliterated directly as Oidipous) as meaning "swollen-foot." The first syllable of Oedipus’ name, ‘oido’, means "I know." Thus his full name could be depicted as know-foot (Rudnytsky 266). This is ironic since at the beginning of the play he is ignorant of the meaning of his pierced ankles.

Much of what is known of Oedipus comes from a famous set of plays by Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone.

俄狄浦斯（Oedipus 或 Œdipus,有时拼为 Oidipous）是希腊神话中底比斯（Thebes）的国王，是国王拉伊奥斯（Laius）和王后约卡斯塔（Iocasta）的儿子，他在不知情的情况下，杀死了自己的父亲并娶了自己的母亲。

拉伊奥斯年轻时曾经劫走国王佩洛普斯（Pelops）的儿子克律西波斯（Chrysippus），因此遭到诅咒，他的儿子俄狄浦斯出生时，神谕表示他会被儿子所杀死，为了逃避命运，拉伊奥斯刺穿了新生儿的脚踝（oidipous 在希腊文的意思即为“肿胀的脚”），并将他丢弃在野外等死。然而奉命执行的牧人心生怜悯，偷偷将婴儿转送给科林斯（Corinth）的国王波吕波斯（Polybus）