Oedipus and the servant who did not have the heart to
expose him
The Myth of Oedipus is marked by a series of shocking
reversals
• the Corinthian stranger turns out to be a Theban
native
• the new king of Thebes (which Oedipus becomes
after defeating the Sphinx) turns out to be the cause
of the plague that has fallen upon the city
• the Head of state becomes its most humble beggar
• the savior of Thebes turns out to be its greatest
source of pollution
• the bright solver of riddles turns out to have been
the most blind
Oedipus, now a blind beggar, is led out of Thebes by his
daughter Antigone
Medusa: ancestor of the Sphinx
Cerberus, the dog of Hades
The two-headed dog of triple bodied Geryon (here
fighting Herakles)
The serpent guarding the apples of the Hesperides
The eagle that eternally
devours Prometheus’
liver
The Lernean hydra (1
immortal and 8
regenerative heads, the
latter cut off by the
sickle of Herakles)
The Chimaira: part lion, part goat, part serpent
The invulnerable Nemean lion
The Sphinx as a sexual
monster
The sexually aggressive Sphinx
The TRIPARTITE nature of the sphinx
2 parts are animal, 1 part human
Plato’s discussion of the tripartite
soul of man:
• one part bodily appetites
• one part emotions
• one part controlling intelligence
References to feet in the genealogy of Oedipus
• Labdacus: man with shortened foot (the letter
lambda was first written in the form of an
inverted V, with one long and one short
stroke)
• Laius “lefty” suggests the uneven strength of
the cripple
• Oedipus: man with swollen feet (his ankles
were pierced as a baby)
Oedipus blinds himself with
pins after he discovers who
he really is
Bellerophon defeats the Chimaira riding on Pegasos
Titian. Diana and Actaeon (1559).
A version in which Actaeon is deliberately intruding upon a scene
clearly intended to be off limits.