Text Response: Oedipus Rex

“I am here to learn for myself – I, Oedipus, whose name is known afar…”
This is a play about the search for identity. What do you think? Back each point with a quote.

The tragic play, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, is considered by many to be the greatest tragedy of all time. Its effectiveness as a tragedy is evident through the sheer drama and tragic irony that the audience are exposed to. The play begins 15 years after Oedipus’ arrival in Thebes, with him as King of Thebes. Due to his ignorance and the sins he had committed, killing his father and marrying his mother, the gods laid pestilence and famine on the land. The citizens consequently approached their king for help and guidance. Creon had also returned from the Apollo’s oracle with the message that:

“There is an unclean thing, born and nursed on our soil, polluting our soil, which must be driven away, not kept to destroy us.”

The killing of Laius is the cause of the city’s pollution and the banishment o...