DRAMA

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BACKGROUND

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ parents learned from an oracle that he

would kill his father, Laius, the king of Thebes, and marry his mother,

Jocasta. They abandoned him on a mountain, but he was found and

adopted. As an adult, Oedipus unwittingly fulfills his fate in his travels.

Twenty years after becoming the king of Thebes, and raising four

children with Jocasta, he learns the truth and blinds himself in

his horror.

Oedipus.... come—it’s unfit to say what is unfit

to do.—I beg of you in God’s name hide me

somewhere outside your country, yes, or kill me,

or throw me into the sea, to be forever

out of your sight. Approach and deign to touch me

for all my wretchedness, and do not fear.

No man but I can bear my evil doom.

Chorus. Here Creon^1 comes in fit time to perform

or give advice in what you ask of us.

Creon is left sole ruler in your stead.

1. Creon Brother of queen Jocasta, whose advice Oedipus has ignored throughout the play
   until this point.

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About the Playwright

Sophocles (496 b.c.–406 b.c.) lived during the golden

age of Athens, Greece. A dramatist, artist, and

politician, Sophocles’ plays are considered the height of

Greek tragedy. His Theban trilogy, Oedipus Rex,

Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus, survives, as do four

other plays. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, all of

which won either first or second place at the annual

Dionysia, a sacred contest of dramatists.

from

Oedipus Rex

Sophocles,

Translated by David Grene

NOTES

IL1 UNIT 3 Independent Learning • from Oedipus Rex