Oedipus Rex

The definitive Greek tragedy that introduced the concept of dramatic irony, and the ultimate tale of fate vs. free will.

First performed in Athens during the City Dionysia festival of 429 BCE, Oedipus Rex (originally titled Oedipus Tyrannus, but today also known as Oedipus the King) runs approximately 90 minutes and consists of a prologue, five episodes separated by four choral odes, and an exodus. The play won first prize at the festival, though competing against what other works, we can only imagine. In its day, it was considered the gold standard of tragic structure, so much so that Aristotle used it as his primary model in defining tragedy.

When Oedipus Rex premiered, Athens was two years into the devastating Peloponnesian War against Sparta. The city was also suffering from a terrible plague – a situation eerily mirrored in the play’s opening scenes. Against this backdrop of uncertainty and death, Sophocles presented a story about a leader whose determination to save his city would lead to his own destruction.

The play was performed in the Theater of Dionysus, carved into the slope of the Acropolis, where up to 17,000 citizens would gather for the religious festival honoring Dionysus, god of wine and theater. Actors wore masks, performed in broad daylight, and were accompanied by a chorus of fifteen men who commented on the action through song and dance.

The Story Unfolds

The brilliance of Oedipus is not so much in its plot twists, since audiences of the day would have already known the myth, but in how Sophocles structures the revelations. The play opens with Oedipus, the celebrated king of Thebes, investigating a plague ravaging his city. The oracle at Delphi reveals that to end the plague, Thebes must punish the murderer of the previous king, Laius.

What follows is essentially history’s first detective story, with Oedipus as both investigator and unwitting culprit. Each step he takes toward uncovering the truth brings him closer to the horrifying realization that he himself killed Laius – who was his father – and married his own mother, Jocasta, fulfilling the very prophecy his birth parents tried to prevent.