Oedipus and the servant who did not have the heart to expose him

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Oedipus and the servant who did not have the
heart to expose him
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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

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Oedipus, now a blind beggar, is led out of Thebes
by his daughter Antigone
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Medusa ancestor of the Sphinx
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Cerberus, the dog of Hades
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The two-headed dog of triple bodied Geryon (here
fighting Herakles)
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The serpent guarding the apples of the Hesperides
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• The eagle that eternally devours Prometheus liver

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• The Lernean hydra (1 immortal and 8 regenerative
  heads, the latter cut off by the sickle of
  Herakles)

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The Chimaira part lion, part goat, part serpent
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The invulnerable Nemean lion
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• The Sphinx as a sexual monster

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• The sexually aggressive Sphinx

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The TRIPARTITE nature of the sphinx2 parts are
animal, 1 part human
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Platos discussion of the tripartite soul of man

• one part bodily appetites
• one part emotions
• one part controlling intelligence

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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)

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• Oedipus blinds himself with pins after he
  discovers who he really is

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Bellerophon defeats the Chimaira riding on Pegasos
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Titian. Diana and Actaeon (1559). A version in
which Actaeon is deliberately intruding upon a
scene clearly intended to be off limits.