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Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus (Ancient Greek: Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, pronounced [oidípuːs týrannos]), or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed c. 429 BC, this is highly uncertain. [1]
A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. The story of Oedipus is the subject of Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus Rex, which is followed in the narrative sequence by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone.
This form of child abandonment is a recurring theme in mythology, especially among hero births. Some examples include: Sargon, King of Akkad – exposed to the river. Karna – exposed to the river. Tang Sanzang – exposed to the river on a wooden plank. The historical person he is based on never suffered such a fate. Oedipus – exposed in ...
The Creon of Oedipus Rex is in some ways different and in some ways similar to the Creon of Antigone. In Oedipus Rex, he appears to favor the will of the gods above decrees of state. Even when Oedipus says that, once dethroned, he must be exiled, Creon waits for the approval of the gods to carry out the order once he has been crowned king.
The plot comes together when Oedipus realizes that he is the son and murderer of Laius as well as the son and husband of Jocasta. Martin M. Winkler says that here, peripeteia and anagnorisis occur at the same time "for the greatest possible impact" because Oedipus has been "struck a blow from above, as if by fate or the gods.
Greek mythology has had an extensive influence on the culture, arts, and literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes. [4]: 43
The Murder of Laius by Oedipus, by Joseph Blanc. In Greek mythology, King Laius (/ ˈ l eɪ ə s, ˈ l aɪ ə s / L(A)Y-əs) or Laios (Ancient Greek: Λάϊος, romanized: Láïos) of Thebes was a key personage in the Theban founding myth.
The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (first century BC), the Latin poet Statius (first century AD), the Greek mythographer Apollodorus (first or second century AD), and the Roman mythographer Hyginus, author of the Fabulae (second century AD?), all gave accounts of the story of the Seven against Thebes. Each of these accounts is more or less ...