220 JOHANNES J.L. SMOLENAARS
Tradition of the mythTo most modern readers, the tragic story of Oedipus’ life is probably
best known from Sophocles’ OT, but the Greeks and Romans who
attended the dramatic performances of for example Euripides’ Oidi-
pous and Phoinissai (further: Phoin.) and Seneca’s Oedipus and
Phoenissae (Phoen.) had a much wider range of expectations, because
they were familiar not only with the plays we know, but also with
plays that survive, at best, in fragmentary form. The main variants in
the tradition which are relevant to my argument concern the
(self)blinding of Oedipus and the when, where and how of Jocasta’s
self-inflicted death.
The story in OT, followed at least in part by Statius, is the result of
Sophocles’ careful selection from earlier versions and his addition of
new elements, such as the occurrence of the plague at Thebes, which
in his version provokes the discovery of the truth about Oedipus. Be-
fore Sophocles, parts of this famous story had already been told by
Homer:
- in Iliad 4.370–400 (cf. also 5.800–13) the story is told that before
the actual war between Eteocles and Polynices, Tydeus went on an
embassy to Thebes, was ambushed by fifty Thebans, and killed all but
one, sparing Maion’s life only in order to have him tell the sad news at
Thebes;^9 - in Iliad 23.678f. Mecisteus is said to have defeated all the Cadmeans
at the funeral games of Oedipus at Thebes;^10 - in Odyssey 11.271–80 Oedipus has killed his father and married his
mother Epikaste. She committed suicide by hanging herself, as in OT,
after she had discovered the truth about her marriage, but differently
from OT Oedipus lived on as king until his death (for the text see be-
low, 224). Part of OT’s plot is already present in this part of Homer’s
Nekyia, but conspicuously absent are: the Sphinx, the plague, the self-
blinding of Oedipus, and the children.
Between Homer and Sophocles’ OT (probably produced ca. 430),
the story was elaborated on in poetry and prose.^11 Our knowledge of
9 For Statius’ brilliant elaboration of the story, see my analysis (2004).
10 Μηκιστῆος υἱὸς Ταλαϊονίδαο ἄνακτος,/ ὅς ποτε Θήβαςδ’ ἦλθε δεδουπότος
Οἰδιπόδαο/ ἐς τάφον· ἔνθα δὲ πάντας ἐνίκα Καδμείωνας. For the meaning of
δεδουπότος, either in war (Aristarchus) or of a peaceful death, see Richardson ad loc.