Polybus is a figure in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. He was the king of Corinth

Corinth

Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

 and husband of either Merope or Periboea

Periboea

In Greek mythology, nine people shared the name Periboea .#Periboea was the daughter of either King Cychreus of Salamis or of Alcathous, her mother in the latter case being either Pyrgo or Evaechme, daughter of Megareus. She married Telamon and became and mother of Ajax...

. He raised Oedipus

Oedipus

Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...

 as his adopted son, who had been abandoned by his parents Laius

Laius

In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth. Son of Labdacus, he was raised by the regent Lycus after the death of his father.-Abduction of Chrysippus:...

 and Jocasta

Jocasta

In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste , Epikastê, or Iokastê was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes, Greece. She was the wife of Laius. Wife and mother of Oedipus by Laius, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene by Oedipus...

 of Thebes

Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)

See Thebes, Greece for the modern city built on the ancient ruins.Ancient Thebes was a Boeotian city-state , situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain...

 in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Polybus was the true father of Alcinoe

Alcinoe

Alcinoe is the name that is attributed to two women in Greek mythology:*Alcinoe, daughter of Polybus of Corinth and wife of Amphilochus, son of Dryas. She refused to pay the full wages to a weaver she had hired, and the woman prayed to Athena to avenge her. The goddess afflicted Alcinoe with a...

. In virtually all accounts of the mythology, when Oedipus reached adolescence, he consulted with the Delphic Oracle, who told him "You shall kill your father and marry your mother". Obviously horrified and disgusted with such a prophecy, Oedipus imposed self-exile upon himself and kept away from Corinth, as he resolved never to murder King Polybus, who had been a kind father to him. Oedipus was also understandably disgusted the act of murdering Polybus and claiming his wife for himself, as he had no unnatural attraction to Queen Merope. Many years later, after Oedipus won the kingship of Thebes by defeating the Sphinx, did another plague befall Thebes. King Oedipus, in his effort to find the cause of plague due to a patricide, revealed that he was told in his teen years that he was destined to murder his father, and sent a spy to Corinth to see who is currently on the throne. The news of Polybus' death by natural causes was announced by the messenger to Jocasta

Jocasta

In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste , Epikastê, or Iokastê was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes, Greece. She was the wife of Laius. Wife and mother of Oedipus by Laius, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene by Oedipus...

 in Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

' Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...

, in which it is (falsely) taken to mean that Oedipus did not kill his father. This would mean the that prophecy that Oedpius would murder his father and marry his mother would be false, and Oedipus expresses relief that he did not commit such a heinous act. Since Polybus in fact his adoptive father, Oedipus could and did kill his true father, King Laius, and fulfill the prophecy.