Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
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Introducing the Play
Literary Focus: Dramatic Irony
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
King Polybus
Rescuing
Oedipus
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Oedipus Rex is
considered one of the
world’s greatest
tragedies.
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
A tragedy is a serious drama featuring a hero or
main character, often of noble birth, who strives
to achieve something and is ultimately defeated.
“Let them all hear it.
It is for them I suffer, more than for myself.”
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
The hero’s downfall is often due to an inborn
character flaw or weakness—the tragic flaw.
“After exposing the rankness of my own guilt,
how could I look men frankly in the eyes?”
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Despite defeat or even death, the tragic hero is
ennobled by new self-knowledge and wisdom.
“Ah dearest ones,
I had neither sight nor knowledge then . . .”
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
The structure of most Greek tragedies presents a
tight, formal arrangement of parts, and Oedipus
Rex maintains this tight dramatic framework.
• Prologue
• Parados
• Dialogue
• Choral odes
• Exodos
The Colosseum,
Rome, Italy
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Oedipus Rex is one of
Sophocles’ three “Theban
plays”—three tragedies
about King Oedipus of
Thebes and his family.
• Antigone
• Oedipus Rex
• Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Oedipus is the ill-fated king of Thebes whose
mysterious past wreaks havoc on all—his family,
his kingdom, and Oedipus himself.
Before the play
begins, Oedipus
has won the right
to marry Queen
Jocasta by solving
a riddle posed by
the Sphinx.
The Sphinx at Giza, Egypt
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Queen Jocasta’s husband,
King Laius, had been killed
on the road by an unknown
traveler. This unsolved
slaying brings a plague on
Thebes.
King Oedipus vows to find
Laius’s killer and bring him
to justice.
Temple of Luxor, Thebes
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
The themes, or underlying messages,
of Oedipus Rex include
• the quest for identity
• the nature of innocence and guilt
• the nature of moral responsibility
• the limitations of human will versus fate
• the abuse of power
[End of Section]
Oedipus Rex
Literary Focus: Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony occurs when the reader or
audience knows something important that a
character in a story or drama does not know.
“Murder of whom? Surely the god has named him?”
Oedipus Rex
Literary Focus: Dramatic Irony
The fundamental irony in the play stems from the
audience’s knowledge of Oedipus’s true identity, of
which Oedipus is completely unaware.
“What is God singing in his profound
Delphi of gold and shadow?
What oracle for Thebes, the sunwhipped city?”
Oedipus Rex
Literary Focus: Dramatic Irony
Sophocles creates variations of this central irony
throughout the play, heightening the audience’s
pity and horror.
The main characters
gradually come to grips
with what the audience
knows from the very
start of the play.
Greek amphitheater
Oedipus Rex
Literary Focus: Dramatic Irony
What is left unsaid is often more powerful than
what is explicitly stated. Almost every line of the
play contains an ambiguity or double meaning.
“Then once more I must bring what is dark to light.”
This verbal irony reinforces the dramatic irony of
the play as each character discovers the truth of
Oedipus’s identity.
[End of Section]