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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 written by Sophocles. The play is thought to have been first performed c. 429 BC, although this is highly uncertain. Although the play won only second place at its initial performance, it was later considered by Aristotle to be one of the greatest Greek tragedies, and is now widely considered one of the greatest plays of Western literature, and the most famous of all Greek tragedies.
Oedipus Rex is likely the fourth out of the seven surviving plays by Sophocles. It is one of three surviving plays that deal with the story of Oedipus and Thebes. Of the three, Oedipus Rex was the second to be written, following Antigone by about a dozen years. However, in terms of the chronology of events described by the plays, it comes first, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone.
Prior to the start of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus has become the king of Thebes while unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father, Laius (the previous king), and marry his mother, Jocasta (whom Oedipus took as his queen after solving the riddle of the Sphinx). The action of Sophocles's play concerns Oedipus's search for the murderer of Laius in order to end a plague ravaging Thebes, unaware that the killer he is looking for is none other than himself. At the end of the play, after the truth finally comes to light, Jocasta hangs herself while Oedipus, horrified at his patricide and incest, proceeds to gouge out his own eyes in despair.
In his Poetics, Aristotle refers several times to the play in order to exemplify aspects of the genre of tragedy.
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