Laius

American  

[ley-uhs, ley-ee-uhs] / ˈleɪ əs, ˈleɪ i əs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a king of Thebes, the husband of Jocasta and father of Oedipus: unwittingly killed by Oedipus.

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Laius British  

/ ˈlaɪəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a king of Thebes, killed by his son Oedipus, who did not know of their relationship

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Example Sentences

And the revisions pertaining to Jocasta’s marriage to Laius, who was killed in a car accident decades before, bring a discomfiting and topical contemporary edge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Jocasta tries to reassure her husband that oracles don’t always get it right by telling him that one once told Laius that he would die by his son’s end.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2020

Oedipus-Antigone A new reimagining combines Sophocles' ancient Greek tragedies about the fall of the House of Laius.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2016

But in its infancy the child had been exposed upon a mountain and died, and the child's father, Laius, had perished by other hands.

From Time Magazine Archive

He, too, like Laius, thought to make it impossible for the oracle to come true; he resolved never to see Polybus again.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton