Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1) in Around the Year in 52 Books

Mar 07, 2023 Marta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

This is an absolute masterpiece of drama that has yet to be surpassed in dramatic tension and sheer perfection of its construction. There is no line wasted here: from start to finish, the drama and tension keeps increasing. It is much shorter than I expected: it delivers all its drama without any filler.

The story of Oedipus, who unkowingly murdered his father and married his mother, was known to audiences who watched the play in ancient Greece and it is known to modern readers as well. (Modern e This is an absolute masterpiece of drama that has yet to be surpassed in dramatic tension and sheer perfection of its construction. There is no line wasted here: from start to finish, the drama and tension keeps increasing. It is much shorter than I expected: it delivers all its drama without any filler.

The story of Oedipus, who unkowingly murdered his father and married his mother, was known to audiences who watched the play in ancient Greece and it is known to modern readers as well. (Modern editions would have an introduction explaining it; if yours does not, get another one, or look it up on Wikipedia). This is essential to the high tension in the play: it is Oedipus who must find out and confront the truth, it is his gradual reckoning and full realization of his terrible crime that we witness.

Oedipus’s crime is fascinating to so many authors because of the crime’s true abhorrence is contrasted with the perpetrators complete ignorance of committing it. We have a sinner here who bears no responsibility of knowledge yet the full responsibility of the consequences. We know it is coming and see him going through the stages of realization and grief as the impact hits him. The tragedy is fully felt by the audience as we see both his guilt and also his innocence. The true tragedy comes from that we feel for him yet we know he must suffer the consequences in order for society to survive. Some rules are inviolate: the prohibition for killing a family member and incest are the most sacred among them.

Sophocles, so many centuries ago, was a master psychologist who takes Oedipus through the five stages of grief.
Denial: Oedipus rejects Teiresias’s truth that he is the problem. Tiresias’s blindness is a metaphor, for he can see the truth but Oedipus cannot. We are so often blinded by our own faults but are quick to condemn others.
Anger: Oedipus angrily didmisses Tiresias and proceeds to blame Kreon for his prophecy.
Bargaining: as he is discovering more clues, he keeps hoping that someone might just contradict the terrible reality that is slowly dawning on him.
Acceptance and depression: as he realizes the truth, the full force hits him and he mourns all he lost and effects on his children.

The dialog is in full service of the drama and tension; the chorus adds interpretation and prayer to the gods.

This play remains one of the most studied, a foundation of all Western drama as we know it, and the best example of the Greek drama tradition. It survives because it explores universal themes of grief and the tragedy of having to face oneself as one’s own worst enemy.
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