The Story of Oedipus: the King of Thebes (Complete) Greek Mythology - See U in History

in one of the most prestigious kingdoms of Greece a boy was born the son of the king with his young and beautiful Queen however the birth of the heir to the royal house was not something auspicious at all in his visit to Apollo's temple the king was told a prophecy in which the birth of his son would be the cause of his death and the ruin of his entire family the king convinced that something had to be done persuaded the Queen that for the good of all the child's life would have to meet its end the baby is delivered to a servant of the king who would have to take the infant to mount cithaeron the boy had his feet pierced and a rope passed through them the boy had to be hung on a tree by his feet allowing the beasts to do whatever they wanted with him however the servant could not leave the poor child in that place and handed him to an unknown shepherd who is passing by with his cattle the shepherd untied the child's feet and treated his wounds he baptized the baby as Oedipus which meant the one with swollen feet the Shepherd in turn was extremely poor and since he did not have conditions to raise the child decided he took him to the king of Corinth Polybius and his wife had no children and therefore decided to adopt Oedipus as their own son Oedipus grew and he was beautiful strong and deeply astute and he lived happily as the crown prince of Corinth however during a celebration one of the noblemen insulted Oedipus saying that he was not worthy to be the heir to the throne of Corinth since he was a foreigner Oedipus questioned King Polybus wanting to know the truth but the latter told him not to mind the words of a drunk Lepus unhappy with the Kings response decided to find the truth in the Oracle of Delphi despite the insistence the Oracle refused to answer his questions but prophesized a terrible future for the young boy you shall kill your own father marry your mother and leave a shameful descent Oedipus was dismayed by such a dreadful prophecy and decided to leave Corinth to avoid killing his beloved father and taking his mother as a wife the young man disheartened wandered through the roads of Greece until at a crossroads he met a gentleman in a wagon accompanied by his servants the road was narrow and one of the servants drew Oedipus off the road to allow the passage of his Lords cart the young prince outraged hid the servant with his cane the Lord and his servants grabbed their weapons and advanced against Oedipus Oedipus was surrounded by aggressors but his strength agility and youth allowed the youngster to defeat all his opponents the Lord and his servants were dead only one of the servants managed to escape Oedipus victorious felt a strong sense of power after winning a battle against several opponents the Prince of Corinth continued to wander through Greece when he was faced with the news that a terrible monster was terrorizing the region of the kingdom of Thebes Oedipus feeling empowered after his recent victory went to Thebes to confront the fearsome Sphinx and add his name to the pantheon of heroes you [Music] Oedipus Prince of Corinth had abandoned his kingdom after hearing from the Oracle of Delphi the prophecy in which he would be responsible for the death of his father while also marrying his mother in the name of the love for his parents he left Corinth and began to wander aimlessly through Greece in his wanderings Oedipus heard rumors that a monster was devastating the city of Thebes the creature was known by the name of Sphinx it was a winged monster a mixture of a woman with a lion the vile creature stood on a rock near the city entrance and all those who approached her heard the following sentence uttered by the Sphinx decipher me or I'll devour you and immediately after that the creature presented a riddle to those who dared to approach her all those who tried to decipher the egg nygma failed and were devoured Creon provisionally reigned over thieves which was mourning the death of King Laius after losing his firstborn to the Sphinx Creon decreed that he would grant the hand of his sister Jocasta in marriage queen and the widow of lies to the one capable of defeating the Sphinx and this hero would become king of Thebes Oedipus decided to accept this challenge because he did not fear death and if he ended up dying at least he would know that his parents would be safe from his terrible prophecy Oedipus met the Sphinx and heard the well-known sentence decide for me or I'll devour you in the morning I have four legs at noon two and when the Twilight comes I have three among all creatures it is the only that can change its number of legs but the greater the number the lower its speed and strength Oedipus stared at the Sphinx which was already licking her lips waiting for yet another meal and so the boy uttered his reply the answer is the human being at the dawn of his life he crawls on his arms and legs in the middle of his life he walks on his two legs at the end of his life he has to rely on a cane the enigmas resolution covered the Sphinx with an unbearable shame and she ended up throwing herself from the top of a cliff the Sphinx was dead and Thebes was safe again Creon has promised gave the hand of his sister Jocasta to the hero and he married her Oedipus was now the King of Thieves his wife despite having a certain age was still very beautiful and fertile and with her Oedipus had several children and they lived very happily but black clouds began to cover the city of Thebes a premonition that something terrible was about to happen you after defeating the terrible Sphinx Oedipus as a reward received the hand of the Queen Jocasta of Thebes in marriage and became king of Thebes he had four children with the Queen the boys Etta Cleese and polyneices and the girls Antigone Anne is Amin many years passed and Oedipus despite having some flaws was seen as a righteous and benevolent King however a plague was ravaging the city of Thebes and many lives were cut short by the disease desperate the population reached for their king who had already saved the city in the past and begged Oedipus to save it again King Oedipus did not dodge his responsibilities with the city and ordered Creon his friend and brother-in-law to go to the Oracle of Delphi and find out the source of such misfortune Creon returns from the Oracle with the answers for such calamity I will reveal what I was told by Apollo through the glorious Oracle of Delphi he expressly ordered that we must purify the land of the sacred city of themes which is tarnished thanks to a vile criminal the Oracle revealed that the plague would persist until the one responsible for the death of Laius the former king of Thebes was expelled from the glorious city of beads which he used as a haven the only thing known was that King Laius had been murdered by a gang of thieves at a crossroads but their identities remained unknown edifice assumed the responsibility to uncover the identity of such vile element who lurked within the walls of Thebes and said anyone who knows the real identity of the murderer is obliged to report what they note in do not fear any kind of retaliation regardless of who the perpetrator is since you will be duly rewarded I want the murderer to know that if he decides to willingly surrender himself his physical integrity will be preserved and he will not suffer any sentence except the exile required by the Oracle and I want everyone to know that I will not rest until the man responsible for liya says death is found and expelled from this city even if he is part of my court or family and I pray that the gods punish such an individual inflicting him with full-fledged pain and suffering Creon suggested the presence of Teiresias the old blind man was a notorious clairvoyant and with the help of his powers the criminal could be found the old Taurus appeared before Oedipus who told him wise elder your reputation as a clairvoyant gives you enough credit to help us discover the identity of the actual murderer of my predecessor therefore I command you to reveal everything you know terrible is the knowledge that only brings misery to those who know it let me go my king and bear your own burden and let me bear mine it would be better for both of us if you have knowledge of the killer's identity reveal it now do not allow the city of Thebes to continue to suffer due to your omission you don't know what you are asking for such knowledge will only cast misery and my mouth knows nothing how dare you betray the soil that welcomed you this traitor can only be complicit in such a crime Taurus was deeply offended by this accusation and decided to reveal what he knew you insisted on going after your own demise may you learn that the wicked who profanes our city is Hugh King of Thebes take this man out of my sight he is an old demented man you wanted the truth and forced me to say it now force yourself to endure the punishments due and welcome the fruits of the curse that you have summoned because I know the powerful truth and what is said is said take this traitor away he can only be in collusion with Prince Creon who brought this man here to steal my crown Oedipus accused Creon of treason and conspiracy alongside Taurus an attempt to strip him of his power why do you impose such burdensome accusations on me in such a careless way I have always been your friend and made you king I don't wish to have your crown and why would I want to anyway standing by your side I have all the benefits of royalty without having to assume the heavy burdens of being a king I never had the ambition to take your crown for myself Queen Jocasta who was watching everything tried to calm the tempers of her husband and brother however Creon walked away furious with Oedipus's accusations husband of mine don't mind what that old charlatan told you those soothsayers and Oracle's no longer have the power that they once did it was prophesized that Laius would be killed by his own son and he died when he was just a baby at that point the arrival of a messenger from Corinth was announced from the city where Oedipus's parents still reigned my lord I bring sad news from Corinth your old father has died and for this reason you should return to your beloved City and take your throne as the King's heir the news that you give me is sad indeed but even so it gives me great relief the Oracle predicted that I would kill my own father and that I would marry my mother the Oracles word is no longer valuable the old king of Corinth died without your intervention but what if my old father died due to the sadness and despair he felt after I decided to abandon him it's not prudent to return to Corinth and run the risk of ending up married to my mother don't worry my king the Queen is not your real mother she simply adopted you how do you know such a secret because I was the one who handed you to her when you were just the baby you were handed to me when I was crossing these lands with my flock you had your feet pierced after hearing what the messenger had said Jocasta felt a deep tightness in her heart would you recognise the man who handed me if you ever saw him again it's important to me to know the identity of my father and my mother because I do not want to bring them the misfortune of my prophecy like I have to discover the identity of Laius estroux murderer it's my duty to discover the identity of my parents this is my duty to Thebes and to myself the only title you will carry for the rest of your loving Jocasta desolated crumbled into tears and ran to her room Oedipus failed to understand the reason of such hysterical reaction from his wife and believe that Jocasta probably feared the humble origin of his parents something that could spoil the name of her family while Oedipus was talking with the messenger he is informed that the only witness of Lyons's murder was brought to the court the servant of the former King looked pale in front of Oedipus the messenger told him Lord I have no doubt this is the man who handed you to me when you were just a baby servant this man says that you handed him a baby many years ago Lord paid no attention to this man he is just losing your time do you remember that small boy with wounded feet now he is in front of you as a king why don't you shut your mouth you fool who handed you the child was it your father I don't know what this man is talking about if I have to repeat the question you will be a dead man please do not harm an old man I cursed that day when I spared your life it would be better if you were dead speak right away and end this story I beg you Mike don't ask me anything else you will speak the truth whether you want it or not tie him to that trunk considering that threat I bow before your willingness saying this will be really cruel but your pain as a listener will be even more excruciating you have been delivered to me by Queen Jocasta who put in my arms her son with King Laius so that he could be delivered to the beasts of mount cithaeron to prevent the fulfillment of a terrible prophecy during that moment of Revelation light shed on the whole darkness that had blinded the poor Oedipus his prophecy had been fulfilled while trying to escape his fate from Corinth Oedipus in fact crossed paths with it but Oedipus's full misery had yet to be reached Queen Jocasta had just committed a desperate Act Oedipus ran toward the Royal rooms but the door was locked Jocasta don't do anything that cannot be undone we are not to blame for what happened everything was an inevitability of fate after forcing the door oedipus found Jocasta hanging with a rope around her neck Oedipus laid the body of the lifeless Queen on the floor he removed the golden brooches that tied her dress and with their needles pierced his own eyes cursed be my eyes which have witnessed such a dreadful scene I therefore mutilate them so that I no longer have to face my parents in the kingdom of Hades blind Oedipus addressed the population of Thebes and said I have plucked out my own eyes what can I admire or love in this life now take me to exile far from Thebes because I'm damned the most hated creature by the gods among mortals oedipus handed his crown to his brother at law Creon who would take care of the kingdom until his children reached the age to reign Oedipus was given to the king of the neglected and the wretched King was taken by his own children to the city gates his beloved daughter Antigone stretched out her arm and decided to accompany her poor father in exile for Oedipus the presence of his daughter at his side could only mean that the gods finally felt sorry for a man so cruelly persecuted since the beginning of his life [Music] [Music]

Channel: See U in History / Mythology

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Keywords: history, mythology, greek mythology, oedipus, king of thebes, thebes, greece, ancient greece, the story of oedipus, oedipus story, greek myth, see u in history, oedipus rex, greek mythology stories, sphinx, sophocles, oracle of delphi, the sphinx's riddle, enigma, jocasta, antigone, king laius, greek mythology explained, greek hero

Id: eHOXBeOjAeU

Length: 19min 42sec (1182 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 04 2019