Oedipus the King
By Sophocles
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Nov. 21, 2016)
Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus , 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 , as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics. It is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from 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, and that deal with the story of Oedipus, Oedipus Rex was the second to be written. However, in terms of the chronology of events that the plays describe, it comes first, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone.