Oedipus (Seneca) Oedipus (Seneca) Oedipus is a "fabula crepidata" (Roman tragic play with Greek subject) of c. 1061 lines of verse that was written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca at some time during the 1st century AD. It is a retelling of the story of Oedipus, which is better known through the play "Oedipus Rex" by the Athenian playwright, Sophocles. It is written in Latin. The play is generally considered one of Seneca's weaker works. The play opens with a fearful Oedipus lamenting a vicious plague which is affecting Thebes, the city over which he rules. People are dying in such huge numbers
Oedipus Rex 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 Laius and his retainers, and the two quarrel over whose chariot has the right of way. The Theban king moves to strike the insolent youth with his sceptre, but Oedipus, unaware that Laius is his true father, throws the old man down from his chariot, killing him. Thus, Laius is slain by his own son, and