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Explanation and Analysis:
Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy, also known as a tragic drama, by Sophocles. It is one of the three Theban plays—the other two being Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus—although each play was a part of a separate tetralogy, with the other works lost to history.
It is important to note that Oedipus Rex was written to be performed rather than read. The play was originally performed by an all-male cast of Greek thespians at the Dionysia, a large festival in Athens. In fact, Sophocles won second place for the trilogy that included Oedipus Rex at the festival. Oedipus Rex has been performed countless times since, with modern adaptations such as Jean Cocteau's The Infernal Machine.
Oedipus Rex is arguably the most influential Greek tragedy ever written. Indeed, in Poetics Aristotle regards Oedipus Rex as the quintessential Greek tragedy. Many of the standard conventions of Greek tragic plays are exemplified by Oedipus Rex: the chorus as a character, themes of fate versus free will, and a tragic hero who suffers a terrible misfortune, to name a few.
The fact that many readers begin reading Oedipus Rex with the knowledge that it is a tragedy and concludes with misfortune does not undermine the play, but rather enhances it. In fact, the story of Oedipus was widely known to the Greek spectators viewing Sophocles's play for the first time. The modern reader who approaches the play with a general knowledge of Oedipus's story is then more akin to Sophocles's original audience than someone for whom the conclusion is a surprise.
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