King Oedipus of Thebes faces a city-wide plague that he vows to cure by identifying the murderer of his predecessor, Laius. The narrative follows his relentless investigation through the testimony of the blind prophet Teiresias, his wife Jocasta, and several aging witnesses. He uncovers a biological reality that contradicts his perceived history, revealing that he unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. The text documents the collision between human intellect and divine oracles, ending in Oedipus’s self-inflicted blindness and social exile.
This edition targets scholars of classical Greek literature and students of dramatic irony. Readers analyze the mechanics of the tragic arc and the structural relationship between preordained fate and individual agency. The work serves as a primary source for understanding ancient Athenian concepts of pollution, civic responsibility, and the limitations of human knowledge. It provides a formal framework for studying how information is disclosed within a theatrical plot to produce maximum psychological tension for an audience familiar with the outcome.
- Published
- 1715
- Language
- EN
