Oedipus (Euripides) Oedipus (Euripides) Oedipus ( or ; , "Oidípous") is a play by the 5th-century BCE Athenian dramatist Euripides. The play is now lost except for some fragments. What survives of the play covers similar ground as Sophocles' acclaimed "Oedipus Rex", but scholars and historians have found there are significant differences. In "Oedipus Rex", the title character blinds himself upon learning his true parentage, accidentally killing his father and marrying his mother Jocasta. In Euripides' play, however, it appears Oedipus is blinded by a servant of his father Laius, Oedipus' predecessor as king of Thebes. Furthermore, Euripides' play implies Oedipus was
Oedipus Rex widely-known version is, ""what is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?"" Oedipus correctly guesses, ""man"", who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks upright in maturity, and leans on a stick in old age. Bested by the prince, the Sphinx throws herself from a cliff, thereby ending the curse. Oedipus' reward for freeing Thebes from the Sphinx is its kingship, and the hand of the dowager queen, Jocasta; none then realize that Jocasta is Oedipus' true mother. Thus, unknown to all of the characters, the prophecy