Oedipus Rex

"What good were eyes to me? Nothing I could see could bring me joy…"


Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, the three plays that tell the story of the ill-fated Theban royal family—Antigone, Oedipus Rex, and Oedipus at Colonus—are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written.


Oedipus Rex, one of Sophocles' greatest plays, has never been surpassed for the raw and terrible power with which its hero struggles to answer the eternal question: "Who am I?" 


Here we find all sides of Sophocles’ genius on display: the verse gorgeous, the characters brilliantly drawn.


Filled with passionate speeches and sensitive probing of moral and philosophical issues, this commanding drama reveals the grim fate that befalls Oedipus.


It is the story of a king who, acting entirely in ignorance, murders his father and marries his mother, unfolds with shattering power. We are helplessly carried along with Oedipus towards the final, horrific truth.

How the gods take their revenge provides the gripping denouement to this compelling tragedy, still one of the most frequently performed of classical Greek dramas.


SOPHOCLES (circa 496 BC) is one of three ancient Greek tragedians (along with Aeschylus, and Euripides) whose plays have survived down through the centuries.  His most famous plays feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays. Sophocles is best remembered for having influenced the development of the modern drama, most importantly by adding a third actor, thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the exposition of the plot.