| Oedipus Rex | |
|---|---|
 Louis Bouwmeester as Oedipus in a Dutch production ofOedipus Rex,c. 1896 | |
| Written by | Sophocles |
| Chorus | Theban Elders |
| Characters | |
| Mute | Daughters ofOedipus (Antigone andIsmene) |
| Date premiered | c. 429 BC |
| Place premiered | Theatre of Dionysus,Athens |
| Original language | Classical Greek |
| Series | Theban Plays |
| Genre | Tragedy |
| Setting | Thebes |
Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title,Oedipus Tyrannus (Ancient Greek:Οἰδίπους Τύραννος,pronounced[oidípuːstýrannos]), orOedipus the King, is anAtheniantragedy bySophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performedc. 429 BC, this is highly uncertain.[1] Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simplyOedipus (Οἰδίπους), as it is referred to byAristotle in thePoetics. It is thought to have been renamedOedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it fromOedipus at Colonus, a later play by Sophocles. In antiquity, the term "tyrant" referred to a ruler with no legitimate claim to rule, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation.[2][3][4]
Of Sophocles' three Theban plays that have survived, and that deal with the story ofOedipus,Oedipus Rex was the second to be written, followingAntigone by about a dozen years. However, in terms of the chronology of events described by the plays, it comes first, followed byOedipus at Colonus and thenAntigone.
Prior to the start ofOedipus Rex, Oedipus has become the king ofThebes while unwittingly fulfilling aprophecy that he would kill his father,Laius (the previous king), and marry his mother,Jocasta (whom Oedipus took as his queen after solving theriddle of the Sphinx). The action of Sophocles's play concerns Oedipus's search for the murderer of Laius in order to end a plague ravaging Thebes, unaware that the killer he is looking for is none other than himself. At the end of the play, after the truth finally comes to light, Jocastahangs herself while Oedipus, horrified at hispatricide andincest, proceeds to gouge out his own eyes in despair.
In hisPoetics, Aristotle refers several times to the play in order to exemplify aspects of thegenre.[5][6]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The misfortunes of Thebes are believed to be the result of a curse laid upon Laius for the time he had violated the sacred laws of hospitality (Greek:xenia).
In his youth, Laius was taken in as a guest byPelops, king ofElis, where he would become tutor to the king's youngest son,Chrysippus, inchariot racing.Apollo, the protector of youth and boys, cursed him for kidnapping and raping Chrysippus.
When Laius' son is born, he consults anoracle as to his fortune. To his horror, the oracle reveals that Laius "is doomed to perish by the hand of his own son." Laius binds the infant's feet together with a pin and orders Jocasta to kill him. Unable to do so to her own son, Jocasta orders a servant to expose the infant on a mountaintop. The servant, moved by pity, gives the child to a shepherd, who unbinds the infant's ankles, and names himOedipus, "swollen foot". The shepherd brings the infant toCorinth, and presents him to the childless kingPolybus, who raises Oedipus as his own son.
As he grows to manhood, Oedipus hears a rumour that he is not truly the son of Polybus and his wife,Merope. He asks theDelphic Oracle who his parents really are. The Oracle seems to ignore this question, telling him instead that he is destined to "mate with [his] own mother, and shed/With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire." Desperate to avoid this terrible fate, Oedipus, who still believes that Polybus and Merope are his true parents, leaves Corinth for the city of Thebes.
On the road to Thebes, Oedipus encounters an old man and his servants. The two begin to quarrel over whose chariot has the right of way. While the old man moves to strike the insolent youth with his scepter, Oedipus throws the man down from his chariot, killing him. Thus, the prophecy in which Oedipus slays his own father is fulfilled, as the old man—as Oedipus discovers later—was Laius, king of Thebes and true father to Oedipus.
Arriving at Thebes, a city in turmoil, Oedipus encounters theSphinx, a legendary beast with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lioness, and the wings of an eagle. The Sphinx, perched on a hill, was devouring Thebans and travelers one by one if they could not solveher riddle.
The precise riddle asked by the Sphinx varied in early traditions, and is not explicitly stated inOedipus Rex, as the event precedes the play. However, according to the most widely regarded version of the riddle, the Sphinx asks "what is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?" Oedipus, blessed with great intelligence, answers correctly: "man" (Greek:anthrôpos), who crawls on all fours as an infant; walks upright in maturity; and leans on a stick in old age.[8]: 463
Bested by the prince, the Sphinx throws herself from a cliff, thereby ending the curse.[9] Oedipus' reward for freeing Thebes from the Sphinx is kingship to the city and the hand of itsdowager queen, Jocasta. None, at that point, realize that Jocasta is Oedipus' true mother.[10] Thus, unbeknownst to either character, the remaining prophecy has been fulfilled.
Oedipus, King of Thebes, sends his brother-in-law,Creon, to ask the advice of the oracle atDelphi, concerning a plague ravaging Thebes. Creon returns to report that the plague is the result of religious pollution, since the murderer of their former king,Laius, has never been caught. Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for causing the plague.
Oedipus summons the blind prophetTiresias for help. Tiresias admits to knowing the answers to Oedipus' questions, but he refuses to speak, instead telling Oedipus to abandon his search. Angered by the seer's reply, Oedipus accuses him of complicity in Laius' murder. The offended Tiresias then reveals to the king that "you yourself are the criminal you seek". Oedipus does not understand how this could be, and supposes that Creon must have paid Tiresias to accuse him. The two argue vehemently, as Oedipus mocks Tiresias' lack of sight, and Tiresias retorts that Oedipus himself is blind. Eventually, the prophet leaves, muttering darkly that when the murderer is discovered, he shall be a native of Thebes, brother and father to his own children, and son and husband to his own mother.
Creon arrives to face Oedipus's accusations. The King demands that Creon be executed; however, thechorus persuades him to let Creon live.Jocasta, wife of first Laius and then Oedipus, enters and attempts to comfort Oedipus, telling him he should take no notice of prophets. As proof, she recounts an incident in which she and Laius received anoracle which never came true. The prophecy stated that Laius would be killed by his own son; instead, Laius was killed by bandits, at afork in the road (τριπλαῖς ἁμαξιτοῖς, triplais amaxitois).
The mention of the place causes Oedipus to pause and ask for more details. Jocasta specifies the branch toDaulis on the way toDelphi. Recalling Tiresias' words, he asks Jocasta to describe Laius. The king then sends for a shepherd, the only surviving witness of the attack to be brought from his fields to the palace.
Confused, Jocasta asks Oedipus what the matter is, and he tells her. Many years ago, at a banquet in Corinth, a man drunkenly accused Oedipus of not being his father's son. Oedipus went to Delphi and asked the oracle about his parentage. Instead of answering his question directly, the oracle prophesied that he would one day murder his father and sleep with his mother. Upon hearing this, Oedipus resolved never to return to Corinth. In his travels, he came to the very crossroads where Laius had been killed, and encountered a carriage that attempted to drive him off the road. An argument ensued, and Oedipus killed the travelers—including a man who matched Jocasta's description of Laius. However, Oedipus holds out hope that he was not Laius' killer, because Laius was said to have been murdered byseveral robbers. If the shepherd confirms that Laius was attacked by many men, then Oedipus will be in the clear.
A man arrives fromCorinth with the message thatPolybus, who raised Oedipus as his son, has died. To the surprise of the messenger, Oedipus is overjoyed, because he can no longer kill his father, thus disproving half of the oracle's prophecy. However, he still fears that he might somehow commit incest with his mother. Eager to set the king's mind at ease, the messenger tells him not to worry, because Merope is not his real mother.
The messenger explains that years earlier, while tending his flock onMount Cithaeron, a shepherd from the household of Laius brought him an infant that he was instructed to dispose of. The messenger had then given the child to Polybus, who raised him. Oedipus asks the chorus if anyone knows the identity of the other shepherd, or where he might be now. They respond that he is the same shepherd who witnessed the murder of Laius, and whom Oedipus had already sent for. Jocasta, realizing the truth, desperately begs Oedipus to stop asking questions. When Oedipus refuses, the queen runs into the palace.
When the shepherd arrives, Oedipus questions him, but he begs to be allowed to leave without answering further. However, Oedipus presses him, finally threatening him with torture or execution. It emerges that the child he gave away was Laius' own son. In fear of a prophecy that the child would kill his father, Jocasta gave her son to the shepherd in order to beexposed upon the mountainside.
Everything is at last revealed, and Oedipus curses himself and fate before leaving the stage. The chorus laments how even a great man can be felled by fate, and following this, a servant exits the palace to speak of what has happened inside. Jocasta hashanged herself in her bedchamber. Entering the palace in anguish, Oedipus called on his servants to bring him a sword, that he might slay Jocasta with his own hand. But upon discovering the lifeless queen, Oedipus took her down, and removing the long gold pins from her dress, he gouged out his own eyes in despair.
The blinded king now exits the palace, and begs to beexiled. Creon enters, saying that Oedipus shall be taken into the house until oracles can be consulted regarding what is best to be done. Oedipus's two daughters (and half-sisters),Antigone andIsmene, are sent out and Oedipus laments their having been born to such a cursed family. He begs Creon to watch over them, in hopes that they will live where there is opportunity for them, and to have a better life than their father. Creon agrees, before sending Oedipus back into the palace.
On an empty stage, the chorus repeats the common Greekmaxim that "no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead."[11]
The two cities ofTroy andThebes were the major focus of Greekepic poetry. The events surrounding theTrojan War were chronicled in theEpic Cycle, of which much remains, and those about Thebes in theTheban Cycle, which have been lost. The Theban Cycle recounted the sequence of tragedies that befell the house ofLaius, of which the story of Oedipus is a part.
Homer'sOdyssey (XI.271ff.) contains the earliest account of the Oedipus myth whenOdysseus encounters Jocasta (named Epicaste) in theunderworld. Homer briefly summarises the story of Oedipus, including the incest, patricide, and Jocasta's subsequent suicide. However, in the Homeric version, Oedipus remains King of Thebes after the revelation and neither blinds himself, nor is sent into exile. In particular, it is said that the gods made the matter of his paternity known, whilst inOedipus the King, Oedipus very much discovers the truth himself.[12]
In 467 BC, Sophocles's fellow tragedianAeschylus won first prize at theCity Dionysia with a trilogy about the House of Laius, comprisingLaius,Oedipus andSeven Against Thebes (the only play which survives). Since he did not write connected trilogies as Aeschylus did,Oedipus Rex focuses on the titular character while hinting at the larger myth obliquely, which was already known to the audience in Athens at the time.
The trilogy containingOedipus Rex took second prize in theCity Dionysia at its original performance. Aeschylus's nephewPhilocles took first prize at that competition.[13] However, in hisPoetics,Aristotle consideredOedipus Rex to be the tragedy which best matched his prescription for how drama should be made.[14]
Many modern critics agree with Aristotle on the quality ofOedipus Rex, even if they don't always agree on the reasons. For example,Richard Claverhouse Jebb claimed that "TheOedipus Tyrannus is in one sense the masterpiece of Attic tragedy. No other shows an equal degree of art in the development of the plot; and this excellence depends on the powerful and subtle drawing of the characters."[15]Cedric Whitman noted that "theOedipus Rex passes almost universally for the greatest extant Greek play..."[16] Whitman himself regarded the play as "the fullest expression of this conception of tragedy," that is the conception of tragedy as a "revelation of the evil lot of man," where a man may have "all the equipment for glory and honor" but still have "the greatest effort to do good" end in "the evil of an unbearable self for which one is not responsible."[17]Edith Hall referred toOedipus the King as "this definitive tragedy" and notes that "the magisterial subtlety of Sophocles' characterization thus lend credibility to the breathtaking coincidences," and notes the irony that "Oedipus can only fulfill his exceptional god-ordained destiny because Oedipus is a preeminently capable and intelligent human being."[18]H. D. F. Kitto said aboutOedipus Rex that "it is true to say that the perfection of its form implies a world order," although Kitto notes that whether or not that world order "is beneficent, Sophocles does not say."[19]
The science revolution attributed toThales began gaining political force, and this play offered a warning to the new thinkers. Kitto interprets the play as Sophocles' retort to thesophists, by dramatizing a situation in which humans face undeserved suffering through no fault of their own, but despite the apparent randomness of the events, the fact that they have been prophesied by the gods implies that the events are not random, despite the reasons being beyond human comprehension.[20] Through the play, according to Kitto, Sophocles declares "that it is wrong, in the face of the incomprehensible and unmoral, to deny the moral laws and accept chaos. What is right is to recognize facts and not delude ourselves. The universe is a unity; if, sometimes, we can see neither rhyme nor reason in it we should not suppose it is random. There is so much that we cannot know and cannot control that we should not think and behave as if we do know and can control."[20]
Oedipus Rex is widely regarded as one of the greatest plays, stories, and tragedies ever written.[21][22] In 2015, whenThe Guardian'stheatre criticMichael Billington, selected what he thinks are the 101 greatest plays ever written,Oedipus Rex was placed second, just afterThe Persians.[23]
Fate is a motif that often occurs in Greek writing, tragedies in particular. Likewise, where the attempt to avoid an oracle is the very thing that enables it to happen is common to many Greek myths. For example, similarities to Oedipus can be seen in the myth ofPerseus'birth.
Two oracles in particular dominate the plot ofOedipus Rex. Jocasta relates the prophecy that was told toLaius before the birth of Oedipus (lines 711–4):
[The oracle] told him
that it was his fate that he should die a victim
at the hands of his own son, a son to be born
of Laius and me.
The oracle told to Laius tells only of thepatricide, whereas theincest is missing. Prompted by Jocasta's recollection, Oedipus reveals the prophecy which caused him to leaveCorinth (lines 791–3):
that I was fated to lie with my mother,
and show to daylight an accursed breed
which men would not endure, and I was doomed
to be murderer of the father that begot me.
The implication of Laius's oracle is ambiguous. One interpretation considers that the presentation of Laius's oracle in this play differs from that found inAeschylus'sOedipus trilogy produced in 467 BC. Smith (2005) argues that "Sophocles had the option of making the oracle to Laius conditional (if Laius has a son, that son will kill him) or unconditional (Laiuswill have a son who will kill him). Both Aeschylus and Euripides write plays in which the oracle is conditional; Sophocles...chooses to make Laius's oracle unconditional and thus removes culpability for his sins from Oedipus, for he could not have done other than what he did, no matter what action he took."[24][25]
This interpretation is supported by Jocasta's repetition of the oracle at lines 854–55: "Loxias declared that the king should be killed by/ his own son." In Greek, Jocasta uses the verbchrênai: "to be fated, necessary." This iteration of the oracle seems to suggest that it was unconditional and inevitable.
Other scholars have nonetheless argued that Sophocles follows tradition in making Laius's oracle conditional, and thus avoidable. They point to Jocasta's initial disclosure of the oracle at lines 711–14. In Greek, the oracle cautions: "hôs autonhexoi moira pros paidos thanein/hostisgenoitemou te kakeinou para." The two verbs in boldface indicate what is called a "future more vivid" condition:if a child is born to Laius, his fate to be killed by that childwill overtake him.[26]
Whatever the meaning of Laius's oracle, the one delivered to Oedipus is clearly unconditional. Given the modern conception offate andfatalism, readers of the play have a tendency to view Oedipus as a mere puppet controlled by greater forces; a man crushed by the gods and fate for no good reason. This, however, is not an entirely accurate reading. While it is a mythologicaltruism that oracles exist to be fulfilled, oracles do not cause the events that lead up to the outcome. In his landmark essay "On Misunderstanding theOedipus Rex",[27]E.R. Dodds draws uponBernard Knox's comparison withJesus' prophecy at theLast Supper thatPeter would deny him three times. Jesusknows that Peter will do this, but readers would in no way suggest that Peter was a puppet of fate beingforced to deny Christ.Free will andpredestination are by no means mutually exclusive, and such is the case with Oedipus.
The oracle delivered to Oedipus is what is often called a "self-fulfilling prophecy," whereby a prophecy itself sets in motion events that conclude with its own fulfilment.[28] This, however, is not to say that Oedipus is a victim of fate and has no free will. The oracle inspires a series of specific choices, freely made by Oedipus, which lead him to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipuschooses not to return to Corinth after hearing the oracle, just as he chooses to head toward Thebes, to kill Laius, and to take Jocasta specifically as his wife. In response to the plague at Thebes, hechooses to send Creon to the Oracle for advice and then to follow that advice, initiating the investigation into Laius' murder. None of these choices are predetermined.
Another characteristic of oracles in myth is that they are almost always misunderstood by those who hear them; hence Oedipus misunderstanding the significance of the Delphic Oracle. He visits Delphi to find out who his real parents are and assumes that the Oracle refuses to answer that question, offering instead an unrelated prophecy which forecasts patricide and incest. Oedipus' assumption is incorrect: the Oracle does, in a way, answer his question. On closer analysis, the oracle contains essential information which Oedipus seems to neglect. The wording of the Oracle: "I was doomed to be murderer of the father that begot me" refers to Oedipus' real, biological father. Likewise the mother with polluted children is defined as the biological one. The wording of the drunken guest on the other hand: "you are not your father's son" defines Polybus as only a foster father to Oedipus. The two wordings support each other and point to the "two sets of parents" alternative. Thus the question of two sets of parents, biological and foster, is raised. Oedipus' reaction to the Oracle is irrational: he states he did not get any answer and he flees in a direction away from Corinth, showing that he firmly believed at the time that Polybus and Merope are his real parents.
The scene with the drunken guest constitutes the end of Oedipus' childhood. He can no longer ignore a feeling of uncertainty about his parentage. However, after consulting the Oracle this uncertainty disappears, strangely enough, and is replaced by a totally unjustified certainty that he is the son of Merope and Polybus. We have said that this irrational behaviour—hishamartia, as Aristotle puts it—is due to the repression of a whole series of thoughts in his consciousness, in fact everything that referred to his earlier doubts about his parentage.[29]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The exploration of the theme of state control inOedipus Rex is paralleled by the examination of the conflict betweenthe individual andthe state inAntigone. The dilemma that Oedipus faces here is similar to that of the tyrannicalCreon: each man has, as king, made a decision that his subjects question or disobey; and each king misconstrues both his own role as asovereign and the role of the rebel. When informed by the blindprophetTiresias that religious forces are against him, each king claims that the priest has been corrupted. It is here, however, that their similarities come to an end: while Creon sees the havoc he has wreaked and tries to amend his mistakes, Oedipus refuses to listen to anyone. (The above text comes almost directly from David Grene's introduction toSophocles I, University of Chicago Press, 1954.)
| This sectionrelies excessively onreferences toprimary sources. Please improve this section by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Oedipus Rex" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sophocles usesdramatic irony to present the downfall of Oedipus. At the beginning of the story, Oedipus is portrayed as "self-confident, intelligent and strong willed."[citation needed] By the end, it is within these traits that he finds his demise.[citation needed]
One of the most significant instances of irony in this tragedy is when Tiresias hints to Oedipus what he has done; that he has slain his own father and married his own mother (lines 457–60):[30]
To his children he will discover that he is both brother and father.
To the woman who gave birth to him he is son and husband and to his father, both, a sharer of his bed and his murderer.
Go into your palace then, king Oedipus and think about these things and if you find me a liar then you can truly say I know nothing of prophecies.
The audience knows the truth and what would be the fate of Oedipus. Oedipus, on the other hand, chooses to deny the reality that has confronted him. He ignores the word of Tiresias and continues on his journey to find the supposed killer. His search for a murderer is yet another instance of irony. Oedipus, determined to find the one responsible for King Laius' death, announces to his people (lines 247–53):[8]: 466–467
I hereby call down curses on this killer...
that horribly, as he is horrible,
he may drag out his wretched unblessed days.
This too I pray: Though he be of my house,
if I learn of it, and let him still remain,
may I receive the curse I have laid on others.
This is ironic as Oedipus is, as he discovers, the slayer of Laius, and the curse he wishes upon the killer, he has actually wished upon himself. Glassberg (2017) explains that “Oedipus has clearly missed the mark. He is unaware that he is the one polluting agent he seeks to punish. He has inadequate knowledge...”[31]
| This sectionrelies excessively onreferences toprimary sources. Please improve this section by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Oedipus Rex" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Literal and metaphorical references to eyesight appear throughoutOedipus Rex. Clear vision serves as a metaphor forinsight andknowledge, yet the clear-eyed Oedipus is blind to the truth about his origins and inadvertent crimes. The prophetTiresias, on the other hand, although literally blind, "sees" the truth and relays what is revealed to him. Only after Oedipus gouges out his own eyes, physically blinding himself, does he gain prophetic ability, as exhibited inOedipus at Colonus. It is deliberately ironic that the "seer" can "see" better than Oedipus, despite being blind. Tiresias, in anger, expresses such (lines 495–500):[32]: 11
Since you have chosen to insult my blindness—
you have your eyesight, and you do not see
how miserable you are, or where you live,
or who it is who shares your household.
Do you know the family you come from?
Without your knowledge you’ve become
the enemy of your own kindred
| This sectionrelies excessively onreferences toprimary sources. Please improve this section by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Oedipus Rex" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Oedipus switches back and forth calling Laius a tyrant (lines 128–129)[33] and a king (lines 254–256)[33] throughout the duration of the play. This is done as a way to make Laius his equal in terms of ruling. Laius was a legitimate king, whereas Oedipus had no legitimate claim to rule. Oedipus's claims of calling Laius a tyrant hint at his own insecurities of being a tyrant.
The tyranny brought down the way it was, what
"troubles" could keep you from looking into it?
For even if a god weren't forcing this on you
you shouldn't leave it festering so, and this
the case of a noble man, your murdered king.
Sigmund Freud wrote a notable passage inInterpretation of Dreams regarding the destiny of Oedipus, as well as theOedipus complex. He analyzes why this play,Oedipus Rex, written in Ancient Greece, is so effective even to a modern audience:[34]: 279–280
"His destiny moves us only because it might have been ours — because the oracle laid the same curse upon us before our birth as upon him. It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. Our dreams convince us that this is so."
Freud goes on to indicate, however, that the “primordial urges and fears” that are his concern are not found primarily in the play by Sophocles, but exist in the myth the play is based on. He refers toOedipus Rex as a “further modification of the legend,” one that originates in a “misconceived secondary revision of the material, which has sought to exploit it for theological purposes.”[34]: 247 [35][36]
In her article,Oedipal Textuality: Reading Freud's Reading of Oedipus, Cynthia Chase explains Oedipus Rex as a story ofpsychoanalysis in relation to the riddles in the story and Oedipus trying to uncover his truth.[37]
TheParsifal story is the "reverse" of theOedipus myth (cf.,Claude Lévi-Strauss).[38]
The first English-language adaption,Oedipus Rex (1957), was directed byTyrone Guthrie and starredDouglas Campbell as Oedipus. In this version, the entire play is performed by the cast in masks (Greek:prosopon), as actors did inancient Greek theatre.
The second English-language film version,Oedipus the King (1968), was directed byPhilip Saville and filmed in Greece. Unlike Guthrie's film, this version shows the actors' faces, as well as boasting an all-star cast, includingChristopher Plummer as Oedipus;Lilli Palmer as Jocasta;Orson Welles as Tiresias;Richard Johnson as Creon;Roger Livesey as the Shepherd; andDonald Sutherland as the Leading Member of the Chorus. Sutherland's voice, however, was dubbed by another actor. The film went a step further than the play by actually showing, in flashback, the murder of Laius (portrayed byFriedrich Ledebur). It also shows Oedipus and Jocasta in bed together, making love. Though released in 1968, this film was not seen in Europe or the US until the 1970s and 1980s after legal release anddistribution rights were granted to video and television.
In Italy,Pier Paolo Pasolini directedEdipo Re (1967), a modern interpretation of the play.
Toshio Matsumoto's film,Funeral Parade of Roses (1969), is a loose adaptation of the play and an important work of theJapanese New Wave.
InColombia, writerGabriel García Márquez adapted the story inEdipo Alcalde, bringing it to the real-world situation of Colombia at the time.
The Nigerian filmThe Gods are STILL not to Blame (2012) was produced by Funke Fayoyin, premiering atSilverbird Galleria inLagos.
Park Chan-wook'sSouth Korean film,Oldboy (2003), was inspired by the play while making several notable changes to allow it to work in a modern South-Korean setting.[39] The film even alters the iconic twist, causing many American critics to overlook the connection. It received widespread acclaim, and is seen in South Korea as the definitive adaptation.[citation needed]
The composerIgor Stravinsky wrote theopera-oratorioOedipus Rex, which premiered in 1927 at theThéâtre Sarah Bernhardt,Paris. It is scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. Thelibretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written byJean Cocteau inFrench and then translated byAbbéJean Daniélou intoLatin. The narration, however, is performed in the language of the audience. The work was written towards the beginning of Stravinsky'sneoclassical period and is considered one of the finest works from this phase of the composer's career. He had considered setting the language of the work inAncient Greek, but decided ultimately on Latin, as "a medium not dead but turned to stone."
Nigerian writerOla Rotimi adaptedOedipus Rex into a 1968 play and novel, titling itThe Gods Are Not to Blame. In 2012, the play was further adapted by Otun Rasheed, under the titleThe Gods Are STILL Not to Blame.
Dancer and choreographerMartha Graham adaptedOedipus Rex into a short ballet entitledNight Journey, premiering in 1947. In this adaptation, the action focuses not on Oedipus, but upon Jocasta, reflecting on her strange destiny.[40][41]
ComposerWolfgang Rihm used the play as a basis for his 1987 operaOedipus, also writing thelibretto in German which includes related texts byFriedrich Nietzsche andHeiner Müller. It premiered at theDeutsche Oper Berlin, directed byGötz Friedrich in a performance broadcast live.[42]
Don Taylor's 1986 translation/adaptation ofOedipus Rex using the English titleOedipus the King formed part of theBBC'sTheban Plays trilogy. It starredMichael Pennington as Oedipus, withClaire Bloom as Jocasta,John Gielgud as Tiresias, andJohn Shrapnel as Creon. The actors performed in modern dress.
In 1977,CBS Radio Mystery Theater broadcast a version of the story called "So Shall Ye Reap," set in 1851 in what was then theU.S. Territory of New Mexico.
In 1987, BrazilianTV Globo broadcast the soap operaMandala a loose adaptation set in Brazil modern times starringVera Fischer as Jocasta.
In 2017,BBC Radio 3 broadcast a production ofAnthony Burgess' translation of the play withChristopher Eccleston as Oedipus andFiona Shaw as Tiresias/Second Elder. John Shrapnel, who starred as Creon in the 1986 BBC television version, played the First Elder.
Other television portrayals of Oedipus include that ofChristopher Plummer (1957),Ian Holm (1972), andPatrick Stewart (1977).
Peter Schickele parodies both the story ofOedipus Rex and the music ofStravinsky's opera-oratorio of the same name inOedipus Tex, a Western-themedoratorio purportedly written byP.D.Q. Bach. It was released in 1990 on the albumOedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities.
Chrysanthos Mentis Bostantzoglou makes a parody of the tragedy in his comedyMedea (1993).[43]
In episode ten of the second season of the Australian satirical comedy showCNNNN, a short animation in the style of aDisney movie trailer, complete with jaunty music provided byAndrew Hansen, parodiesOedipus Rex.[44] Apart from being advertised as "fun for the whole family," the parody is also mentioned at other times during that same episode, such as in a satirical advertisement in which orphans are offered a free "Oedipus Rex ashes urn" as a promotional offer after losing a relative.[45]
John Barth's novelGiles Goat-Boy contains a forty-page parody of the full text ofOedipus Rex calledTaliped Decanus.
Tom Lehrer wrote and performed acomedic song based uponOedipus Rex in 1959.
Bo Burnham references Oedipus in songs "Words Words Words" and "Rant", both part of his album,Words Words Words.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Levi-Strauss has noted how the Parsifal story is the reverse of the Oedipus Legend.
The full text ofOedipus Rex at Wikisource (multiple translations available)
Oedipus Rex public domain audiobook atLibriVox| Kings |
|
|---|---|
| In literature | |
| Related articles | |
