Oedipus Rex Oedipus Rex Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus ( IPA: [oidípuːs týranːos]), or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply "Oedipus" ("Οἰδίπους"), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the "Poetics". It is thought to have been renamed "Oedipus Tyrannus" to distinguish it from another of Sophocles' plays, "Oedipus at Colonus". In antiquity, the term “tyrant” referred to a ruler, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation. Of his three Theban plays that have survived,
Oedipus Rex clear. A man arrives from Corinth with the message that Oedipus's father has died. Oedipus, to the surprise of the messenger, is made ecstatic by this news, for it proves one half of the prophecy false, for now he can never kill his father. However, he still fears that he may somehow commit incest with his mother. The messenger, eager to ease Oedipus's mind, tells him not to worry, because Merope was not in fact his real mother. It emerges that this messenger was formerly a shepherd on Mount Cithaeron, and that he was given a baby, which the childless