Oedipus (Dryden play) act was concluded. Among all our English plays, there is none more determinedly bloody than Oedipus, in its progress and conclusion. The entrance of the unfortunate king, with his eyes torn from their sockets, is too disgusting for representation. "Oedipus Rex" was originally written by Sophocles in 430 BC, and later on the subject was adapted by Seneca and Corneille. In the preface to "Oedipus, a Tragedy", Dryden refers to these authors and comments on their works. By doing so, he reveals his concept of "Oedipus, a Tragedy", and explains why he thinks that the Latin and French adaptions of
Oedipus Rex is based on; he refers to the play 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.” The play has been filmed several times, twice in English. The 1957 film version, directed by Tyrone Guthrie, starred Douglas Campbell as Oedipus and had the cast performing the entire play in masks, as in ancient Greek theatre. The second English language film version, directed by Philip Saville and released in 1968, was filmed in Greece. This one showed the actors' faces and boasted an