Oedipus Rex
Sophocles (-429)
“A man investigates a murder, discovers he is the murderer, and that the victim was his father. Aristotle called it the perfect tragedy. He was right.”
Short Summary
Oedipus, King of Thebes, launches an investigation into the murder of his predecessor Laius to end a plague devastating the city. The investigation reveals, step by step, that Oedipus himself killed Laius — who was his biological father — and that he has been living in incest with his mother Jocasta. Jocasta hangs herself. Oedipus blinds himself with her brooch-pins and is exiled. The oracle of Apollo, delivered at his birth and again before the play begins, has come true in every detail.
Detailed Summary
Thebes is dying. A plague ravages the city — crops fail, cattle sicken, women miscarry, men die. King Oedipus stands before his people, already having sent his brother-in-law Creon to the oracle at Delphi to learn the cause. Creon returns with Apollo's pronouncement: the plague is divine punishment ...