Polybus

Polybus, also spelled Polybus, is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the king of Corinth and husband of Merope. He is the adoptive father of Oedipus, the Theban king.

According to the myths, the infant Oedipus was abandoned and found by a shepherd; he was entrusted to Polybus and Merope, who raised him in Corinth as their son. An oracle prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother, which leads him to leave Corinth to avoid this fate, believing Polybus to be his father.

In Thebes, Oedipus unknowingly kills Laius, then answers the Sphinx’s riddle, becoming king and marrying Jocasta, his mother. When the truth emerges, Jocasta dies and Oedipus blinds himself and goes into exile. Polybus dies of natural causes; later a messenger reveals that Oedipus’s true father was Laius, not Polybus, confirming that the prophecy was tied to birth rather than upbringing.

In the classical tradition, Polybus's role serves to highlight fate, identity, and the limitations of human knowledge. He features prominently in Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus) and in related mythic cycles. Some later writers offer variations but the Corinthian kingship and adoption are the core elements.

See also: Oedipus myth; Thebes; Corinth.