Oedipus: Trapped by Destiny (TOON Books)

Most people are familiar with the term Oedipus complex and the basics of what it entails. However, if you asked people to explain where the term came from, I would wager that few could tell you much about its origins in Greek mythology. TOON Books recently released Oedipus: Trapped by Destiny. This is the third book in their Graphic Mythologies series with the first two being Theseus and the Minotaur and Orpheus in the Underworld.

Oedipus: Trapped by Destiny begins with King Laius and Queen Jocasta finding out they are pregnant. In order to find out if the child was going to be a boy, he visited the Temple of Apollo. The oracle there told him that the child would be male (Oedipus), but that the child would grow up and kill his father and marry his mother. Devastated by this news, they gave the child to their servant to leave in the wilderness to die. Oedipus was saved and grew up as royalty in Corinth. As he grew up, he had doubts about who his real parents were, so he too went to the Temple of Apollo and heard the same prophecy that King Laius had heard. Oedipus was scared of this prophecy and tried to run away from it. However, in running from his fate, he ultimately ran toward it and fulfilled what the oracle had said. This led to the death of his father, eventual death of his mother, and blinding of himself.

This is another brilliant book from Yvan Pommaux. The story is spot on in accuracy, but censors where necessary. Primarily, it doesn't explicitly show Oedipus gouging his eyes out. The graphic novel format is also very engaging as it enhances the story without distracting from it. Though the book is rated for ages 8+, given the content I would put it more age 12+. If you enjoy Greek mythology and want to introduce it to your children, I highly recommend the three from TOON Books and hope that they continue to publish more of these.

This book was provided to me for free by TOON Books in exchange for an honest review.