Oedipus Rex
Blinded king's tale
Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles, depicting King Oedipus's discovery that he has unknowingly killed his father and married his mother—fulfilling a prophecy he tried to escape.
The play gave Freud his term for the Oedipus complex.
References to Oedipus Rex typically invoke themes of fate, forbidden desire, or tragic self-discovery: It's like Oedipus Rex—the harder he runs from the truth, the faster he finds it.
- tragic heroCharacter whose flaw causes ruin
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- Greek tragedyClassical dramatic form featuring downfall
- SophoclesClassical Athenian playwright
- ancient GreeceClassical Mediterranean civilization
fate · Greek theater · free will · prophecy · self-fulfilling prophecy · Sphinx · catharsis · dramatic irony · hubris · fatal flaw · dream analysis · oracle · truth · repression · archetype · Jocasta · Thebes · family dynamics
- Ancient PlaysAgamemnon, Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Helen
- PlaysHamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
- MasterpiecesMona Lisa, Last Supper, Starry Night, The Scream, David
- School ClassicsTo Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet, The Scarlet Letter
- tragedytragedy, tragic flaw, tragic hero, tragic heroes, tragic irony
Oedipus RexA Midsummer Night's Dream
The Importance of Being Earnest · Old Comedy · Much Ado About Nothing · farce · Tartuffe
Oedipus RexThe Divine Comedy
Tripartite afterlife epic
A Christmas Carol · Pride and Prejudice · Cinderella · The Tempest · bildungsroman