Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is an Ancient Greek play by the famous Sophocles. If you didn't know, this was what inspired Freud's theory in the Oedipus complex wherein children have desires, which they often suppress or deny, to marry the parent of the opposite gender and kill the parent of the same gender. He believes that all of the events of the play were not some truck of fate or the fulfilment of prophecies, but an example of his theory.

This play is part of a series of the called the Theban plays (cover above) surrounding Oedipus' family. In this particular story, the king, Oedipus, is having trouble because the land is diseased. In Ancient Greece, this was a sign that the kings and queen were ill/barren, etc. It soon comes to light that these issues causing disease are because Oedipus' wife is his also his mother. His father heard a prophecy that the baby would grow up to kill the father and marry the mother. So the king have his son to be staked to a hill by the ankle to die of exposure. Eventually shepherds find him and he is adopted by a foreign king and queen. He hears the same prophecy about his life and runs so that he can't do that to his "parents". Anyways, he fulfills the prophecy without realizing. And since this play is a tragedy, it all goes very wrong for the family, but Oedipus, who caused it all, is left to suffer.

This play explores great themes about spiritual and physical sight, as well as fulfilling prophecies. And, as always, it looks at the tragic consequences of believing one can become equal with the gods.

I found it extremely frustrating at some points that the characters can't see what is clearly in front of them and that when they do see it they tend to ignore it. The ironies and symbols relating to the themes are actually poetically complex.

If you like to read plays, particularly Greek tragedies, you might really like this.