Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

The first performance of Sophocles' Attic tragedy, Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title Oedipus Tyrannus or Oedipus the King, took place about 429 BC. As stated by Aristotle in the Poetics, the title was originally known to the ancient Greeks simply as Oedipus. Tyrant was a term used in antiquity to describe a ruler who had no right to reign, but it did not always have a bad meaning.

Oedipus Rex was composed roughly a dozen years after Antigone, the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays that have survived and tell the tale of Oedipus. However, it comes first in the order of events as they are described in the plays, then Oedipus at Colonus, and finally Antigone.

Before the events of Oedipus Rex began, Oedipus had unknowingly carried out a prophecy that stated he would kill his father Laius (the previous king) and wed his mother Jocasta. As a result, he had become the king of Thebes (whom Oedipus took as his queen after solving the riddle of the Sphinx). In order to put a stop to a plague that is devouring Thebes, Oedipus sets out to find Laius' killer in Sophocles' play, but he has no idea that the person he is hunting for is none other than himself. After the truth is revealed at the end of the play, Jocasta hangs herself, and Oedipus then goes on to tear out his own eyes in grief after realizing his patricide and incest.

The monarch's life's facts and the pride that drives him and his family toward a catastrophic end are slowly revealed by Sophocles, and it never stops being genuinely captivating. This one endures merely because of its great theatrical storytelling. Aristotle makes numerous references to the play in his Poetics in order to illustrate various elements of the genre.

Written by: Sophocles

Created: c. 429 BC