What genuinely transpired with Oedipus? - Stephen Esposito episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 6, 2026 · 7 MIN

What genuinely transpired with Oedipus? - Stephen Esposito

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into the tragic tale of Oedipus, who unknowingly fulfills a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother.--When Queen Jocasta of Thebes gave birth to Oedipus, a grim air seized the occasion. Her husband, King Laius, had received a prophecy from Apollo's oracle foretelling that he would die at the hands of his own son. Determined to escape this fate, Laius abandoned the newborn on Mount Cithaeron. But divine prophecies can be quite stubborn. Stephen Esposito shares the tragic Greek tale of Oedipus.Lesson by Stephen Esposito, directed by Yael Reisfeld.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happened-to-oedipus-stephen-espositoDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happened-to-oedipus-stephen-esposito/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.yaelreisfeld.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey, Yelena Baykova, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey and Akinola Emmanuel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the tragic tale of Oedipus, who unknowingly fulfills a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother.--When Queen Jocasta of Thebes gave birth to Oedipus, a grim air seized the occasion. Her husband, King Laius, had received a prophecy from Apollo's oracle foretelling that he would die at the hands of his own son. Determined to escape this fate, Laius abandoned the newborn on Mount Cithaeron. But divine prophecies can be quite stubborn. Stephen Esposito shares the tragic Greek tale of Oedipus.Lesson by Stephen Esposito, directed by Yael Reisfeld.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happened-to-oedipus-stephen-espositoDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happened-to-oedipus-stephen-esposito/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.yaelreisfeld.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey, Yelena Baykova, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey and Akinola Emmanuel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What genuinely transpired with Oedipus? - Stephen Esposito

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This episode was published on June 6, 2026.

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Dig into the tragic tale of Oedipus, who unknowingly fulfills a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother.--When Queen Jocasta of Thebes gave birth to Oedipus, a grim air seized the occasion. Her husband, King Laius, had received a...

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