The Story of Oedipus
We don’t know whether there was a historical Oedipus. “Oedipus” means “swollen feet”. The Greeks pronounced it “oy-DEEP-us”. Oed- is the same root as “oedema / edema” (tissue swelling; the British preserve the initial “o”), while “-pus” is feet (hence “octopus”, the eight-footed animal.) Laius and Jocasta were king and queen of Thebes, a town…