This article is a list of the similarities and the few differences between King Oedipus of ancient Greece and Jimmy Darmody.
1. The father abducts and rapes the mother of his son.
Oedipus = Yes
Darmody = Yes
2. The son is saved from death and raised by strangers in exile.
Oedipus = Yes
Darmody = Not exiled, raised by a stranger
3. The son slays his father
Oedipus = Yes
Darmody = Yes
4. The son becomes king
Oedipus = Yes
Darmody = Yes
5. The son marries his mother
Oedipus = Yes
Darmody = He didn't marry her
6. Their marriage produces two daughters
Oedipus = Yes, Antigone and Ismene
Darmody = No, their brief union was childless
7. The son blinds himself and begs to be exiled
Oedipus = Yes
Darmody = Voluntarily goes to his own death, gets shot in face but not eyes.
8. Every close relation comes to a tragic end, father, mother/wife, children. So far in the series the parallel holds. Oedipus had two daughters who got tragedies written about them. The fate of Tommy Darmody is still to be determined.
9. Walks with limp because of injury when young
Oedipus = Yes. Was found as an abandoned baby with ankles bound together. Oedipus means "swollen foot".
Jimmy Darmody = Yes. War injury.
Dramatis Personæ[]
Boardwalk Empire character ... Corresponding character in Oedipus Rex
- Jimmy Darmody ... Oedipus
- Gillian Darmody ... Jocasta, Queen of Thebes, wife of Laius, mother of Oedipus and his wife
- Commodore Louis Kaestner ... Laius, King of Thebes, father of Oedipus
- Nucky Thompson ... Not a straightforward fit, Nucky mentored Jimmy which corresponds roughly to both the shepherd who rescued Oedipus from death and King Polybus of Corinth who raised and mentored him. In addition, Nucky succeeded the Commodore as "king" while Oedipus was the direct successor of Laius. Jimmy takes over from Nucky, briefly, and is declared "the new king" by the girls in the crowd at the boxing match wireless broadcast.