Description

Disaster has stricken the kingdom of Thebes—citizens everywhere are sick and dying of the plague. Oedipus, the Theban king, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to seek advice from the Oracle at Delphi. Creon returns with disturbing news: the murderer of Thebes’s former king, Laius, is at large within the city, and only when the murderer is caught and leaves forever will Thebes be free of the devastating curse. Oedipus swears to find the killer at once, but an aged prophet, gifted with vision into the past and future, gives Oedipus advice he does not want to hear: if he wants to find the murderer, Oedipus should look no further than himself. Outraged, Oedipus accuses the prophet of trying to steal his throne—how could the vision be true? Shock and despair mark the climax of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex as a noble man struggles with a devastating realization.

About the Author

Sophocles (ca. 496-406 B.C.) was born in Attica, Greece, to a wealthy family. His stellar education and social prominence perhaps led to his becoming a pillar of his community throughout his life. Sophocles played key roles in many of Athens’s governing bodies, whether political, military, or financial. He made a name for himself as a dramatist in 468 B.C., when he famously won the Dionysia drama competition. This honor was no small accomplishment, as Sophocles beat out Aeschylus, who had for some time been considered Athens’s greatest playwright. Sophocles went on to write many plays in his long lifetime, and several of them survive today. He is best known for his Oedipus cycle, which includes Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonnus, as well as for his other dramas Electra, Philoctetes, and Ajax. Many of Sophocles’s works deal with the painful human dilemmas that even the greatest of leaders must face. To this day, Sophocles is considered one of the founding fathers of Western drama, with his plays enjoying thousands of years on the stage in performances around the world.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

The following also appear, but do not speak:
_The children_ ANTIGONE _and_ ISMENE.
SCENE. Before the Royal Palace in the Cadmean citadel of Thebes.
(_with the_ Train of Suppliants _grouped before an altar_).
And sounds of praise, mingling with sounds of woe?
Your Oedipus,--a name well known to ...