- Oedipus is abandoned by his own father after he hears a prophecy that he is to kill his own father and marry his mother
- Oedipus is adopted and hears the same prophecy when he comes of age
- He goes on a quest to find his father
- Along his journey he gets into a fight with a man and kills him
- The man he killed was his father, but Oedipus didn't know it at the time
- Later, Oedipus solves a riddle by the Sphinx that has been terrorizing the village and the Sphinx leaves
- As a reward the village offers Oedipus the marriage of their queen who he marries
- The queen is Oedipus' biological mother
- Oedipus is a story of great irony
- A good example of an allusion to Oedipus is in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" where Harry encounters the sphinx and has to solve the riddles