Timeline: Oedipus

600 BCE

Birth

In what people think is about 600 BC, Queen Jocasta and King Laius had a son named Oedipus. Not long after Oedipus was born,Jocasta heard rumors that her baby would one day be the killer of her husband. With this information, she decided to get rid of the baby. After being handed off by many shepherds, Oedipus finally found his parents, the king and queen of Corinth.

580 BCE

Runaway

When Oedipus starts to hear rumors of being adopted, he leaves Corinth. Oedipus visits the Oracle of Delphi where he is told that he will kill his father and sleep with his mother. This convinced him to
never return home. On his way, Oedipus gets into a fight with some other travelers. He ends up killing Laius, but didn’t know it was him.

575 BCE

Thebes

Once Oedipus arrive at Thebes, he solves the riddle of Sphinx. This makes him their new king. He also marries Queen Jocasta who was the widow of the man he’d previously killed.

560 BCE

The Plague

About five years later, a plague is stuck over Thebes. At this time, King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta had already had four children together. To figure out what is going on, Oedipus send Creon to the the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle tells Creon that the plague will not be fixed until the killer of King Laius is identified, cursed, and out of Thebes.

559 BCE

Tiresias

Oedipus sends for Tiresias, a trusted prophet, to tell him the truth. After multiple fights and arguments, Tiresias reveals that Oedipus was the murder of Laius.

558 BCE

Treason

Oedipus accuses Creon of treason. He thinks Creon is making Tiresias tell him lies in order to steal the throne.

550 BCE

Oedipus' Father

A Messenger of King Polybus comes with news of Polybus' death. The messenger also reveals that Polybus was not Oedipus' birth father. This opened the discussion of Oedipus' birth parents.

548 BCE

The Truth

A Shepard came and gave his side of the story. He said that when Oedipus was a baby, he found him and took him to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. His biological parents were King Laius and Queen Jocasta but his real parents were King Polybus and Queen Merope. This means he did in fact kill his father and sleep with/marry his mother.