~ c. 429 BC ~
Oedipus Rex is a tragedy by Sophocles about a man named Oedipus who fulfills a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, thereby facing the consequences of his actions. In the play, Oedipus searches for the murderer of the previous king in order to end a plague in Thebes, only to discover that he was the killer he was searching for. At the end of the play, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes in despair, and his mother, the queen, hangs herself. The play is considered a masterpiece of Greek tragedy with powerful character development and a revelation of the evil lot of man. Sophocles was a legendary playwright of ancient Greece known for his contributions to the literary world.