Oedipus Rex
Also known as: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus the King, Oidipous Tyrannos
A Theban king’s search for the source of a plague uncovers his own hidden crimes: he has unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. Recognition destroys his kingship, family, and sight.
Description
Sophocles’ tragedy centers on Oedipus, king of Thebes, who vows to purge a miasma afflicting the city. An oracle declares that the murderer of the former king Laius lives in Thebes. Oedipus pursues the truth through witness testimony and prophetic riddling, clashing with Tiresias and Creon, while Jocasta urges him to abandon the inquiry. A Corinthian messenger and a Theban shepherd reveal that Oedipus, exposed as an infant to thwart a prophecy, survived, killed Laius at a crossroads, solved the Sphinx’s riddle, and married Jocasta—his mother. Jocasta dies by her own hand; Oedipus, in horror, blinds himself and accepts exile, entrusting rule to Creon. The play exemplifies tragic irony, the limits of human knowledge, and the inescapability of fate.
Historiography
Transmitted through a Byzantine manuscript tradition that preserved most of Sophocles’ extant tragedies, the play circulated in medieval and Renaissance copies under Greek and Latin titles (notably the Latin ‘Oedipus Rex’). Ancient testimonia and Aristotle’s Poetics later praised it as a model of tragic structure and recognition. Modern scholarship debates performance date and contextual links to the historical plague of Athens. Standard texts derive from collations of principal medieval codices with papyri fragments.
Date Notes
Often dated to the late 430s BCE, possibly first performed at the City Dionysia amid or shortly after the Athenian plague; exact year is debated.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Oedipus
- Jocasta
- Creon
- Tiresias
- Chorus of Thebans
- Shepherd
- Messenger
Myths
- The Riddle of the Sphinx
- The Slaying of Laius
- The Unwitting Marriage
- The Plague of Thebes
- The Self-Blinding of Oedipus
Facts
- The Latin title ‘Oedipus Rex’ is a later scholarly convention; the Greek title is ‘Oidipous Tyrannos’.
- Set in Thebes during a devastating plague attributed to ritual pollution (miasma).
- Aristotle praised the play’s plot and recognition in the Poetics as exemplary tragedy.
- Tiresias’ refusal and later prophecy heighten dramatic irony central to the play.
- A Corinthian messenger and a Theban shepherd provide key anagnorisis through testimony.
- Jocasta dies by suicide; Oedipus blinds himself with her brooches.
- Creon assumes authority at the end, preparing Oedipus’ exile.
- The Sphinx episode precedes the play’s action and is recounted retrospectively.
- Choral odes reflect on human limits, the power of Apollo, and the fall of great men.
- The work is part of the broader Theban mythic cycle alongside other tragedies.