Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by michaelmay
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
4.0
I'm pretty sure I read this in high school and I certainly knew the story, but wanted to explore it again as a sort of proto-gothic story. It has a similar theme to Vathek, which is also about a ruler brought to ruin, but Vathek's fall is due to his own vices while Oedipus' tragedy is because of happenstance.
Read with modern eyes, the play starts strongly with a mystery (who killed the previous king?) and there's a cool procedural for a bit as Oedipus tries to uncover the truth. But he's ultimately stupid and bull-headed and the audience figures out what's going on long before the king does. None of that though is as important as the characters' reactions to it and that's where the play shines. Oedipus the King is a tragedy and Sophocles pours so much suffering into the final words of the main characters. It's better poetry than murder mystery, but even the mystery is pretty cool.
Read with modern eyes, the play starts strongly with a mystery (who killed the previous king?) and there's a cool procedural for a bit as Oedipus tries to uncover the truth. But he's ultimately stupid and bull-headed and the audience figures out what's going on long before the king does. None of that though is as important as the characters' reactions to it and that's where the play shines. Oedipus the King is a tragedy and Sophocles pours so much suffering into the final words of the main characters. It's better poetry than murder mystery, but even the mystery is pretty cool.