Laius abducting Chrysippus, who is reaching out to Pelops, his father (detail). Volute crater, ca. 320 BCE. The Getty, Malibu, California.

In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth. Son of Labdacus, he was raised by the regent Lycus after the death of his father. Download high resolution version (964x882, 604 KB) The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (964x882, 604 KB) The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... The Getty Center, seen from the Central Garden The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, is the current home of the J. Paul Getty Museum as well as a research institute, conservation institute, grant program, and leadership institute. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... For the ancient capital of Upper Egypt, see Thebes, Egypt. ... In Greek mythology, Labdacus was the only son of Polydorus and a King of Thebes, and the grandson of Thebes founder, Cadmus. ... In Greek Mythology, Lycus was a ruler of the ancient city of Thebes, Greece. ...

Abduction of Chrysippus

While Laius was still young, Amphion and Zethus usurped the throne of Thebes. Some Thebans, wishing to see the line of Cadmus continue, smuggled Laius out of the city before their attack, in which they killed Lycus and took the throne. ^[1] Laius was welcomed by Pelops, king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus.^[2] Laius become infatuated with the king's son, Chrysippus, and carried him off to Thebes while teaching him how to drive a chariot, or as Hyginus records it, during the Nemean games. This abduction was the subject of one of the lost tragedies of Euripides. With both Amphion and Zethus having died in his absence, Laius became king of Thebes upon his return. Amphion (native of two lands) and Zethus, in ancient Greek mythology, were the twin sons of Zeus by Antiope. ... Cadmus Sowing the Dragons teeth, by Maxfield Parrish, 1908 Caddmus, or Kadmos (Greek: Κάδμος), in Greek mythology, was the son of the king of Phoenicia (Modern day Lebanon) and brother of Europa. ... In Greek mythology, Pelops (Greek Πέλοψ, from pelios: dark; and ops: face, eye) was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the Peloponnesus, land of Pelops, but for all Hellenes. ... Pisa, or Pisatis, was the name of an ancient Greek town in Elis. ... Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... Laius abducting Chrysippus, who is reaching out to Pelops, his father (detail). ... Gaius Julius Hyginus, (c. ... The Nemean Games were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years. ... A statue of Euripides Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (c. ...

Later misfortunes

After the rape of Chrysippus, Laius married Jocasta or Epicasta, the daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi. Laius received an oracle from Delphi which told him that he must not have a child with his wife, or the child would kill him and marry her. One night, however, Laius was drunk and fathered Oedipus with her. Laius ordered the baby, Oedipus, to have his feet pierced and to be exposed on Mount Cithaeron, but he was taken by a shepherd and given to King Polybus and Queen Merope (or Periboea) of Corinth who raised him to adulthood.^[3] In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also Iocaste (Iοκαστη) or Epikastê, was a daughter of Menocenes, Queen of Thebes, who unwittingly married Oedipus, her own son. ... In Greek mythology, Epicaste (or Epicasta) is the name of four women. ... In Greek mythology, Menoeceus was the father of Jocasta and Creon, and (in a true Greek-drama way) both grandfather and father-in-law of Oedipus. ... In Greek mythology, the Spartes (sown) were the men who grew from the sown teeth of a dragon. ... Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse, showing eight priestesses in a temple of prophecy An oracle is a person or persons considered to be the source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... Delphi (Greek , [ðeÌžlˈfi]) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in a valley of Phocis. ... Oedipus with the Sphinx, from an Attic red-figure cylix from the Vatican Museum, ca. ... Kithairon is a mountain range (No corner of Kithairon echoless, Oedipus Rex 440) about 10 mi (16 km) long, in central Greece, standing between Boeotia in the north and Attica in the south. ... Polybus was a famous physician. ... In Greek mythology, several unrelated women went by the name Merope (bee-mask later reinterpreted as honey-like or eloquent), which may, therefore, have denoted a position in the cult of the Great Mother rather than a mere individuals name: Merope, one of the Heliades Merope, foster mother of... In Greek mythology, five people shared the name Periboea. ... Temple of Apollo at Corinth Corinth, or Korinth (Κόρινθος) is a Greek city, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the original isthmus, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ...

When Oedipus desired to know more about his parentage, he consulted the Delphic Oracle, only to be told that he must not go to his home or he would kill his father and marry his mother. Thinking that he was from Corinth, he set out toward Thebes to avoid this fate. ^[4] At the road called 'Cleft Way,' he met Laius, who was going to Delphi to consult the oracle because he had received omens indicating that his son might return to kill him. ^[5] Oedipus refused to defer to the king, although Laius's attendants ordered him to. Being angered, Laius either rolled a chariot wheel over his foot or hit him with his whip, and Oedipus killed Laius and all but one of his attendants. Laius was buried where he died by Damasistratus, the king of Plataea.^[6] Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Many of Laius's descendants met with ill fortune, but whether this was because he violated the laws of hospitality and marriage by carrying off his host's child, or because he ignored the oracle's warning not to have children, or some combination of these, is not clear.

Spoken-word myths - audio files

Pindar (or Pindarus) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae, a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos), was perhaps the greatest of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... Gaius Julius Hyginus, (c. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Athenaeus (ca. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ...

Notes

1. ^ Pausanius, Description of Greece, 9.5.6
2. ^ Apollodorus, Library, 9.5.5
3. ^ Apollodorus, Library, 3.5.7
4. ^ Apollodorus, Library, 3.5.7
5. ^ Tripp, Edward. Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p.337
6. ^ Tripp, Edward. Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p.337

External links

• Story of Laius and Chrysippus