!!''OedipusRex'' redirects here. If you're looking for the character archetype that this play named, it's OedipusComplex.
The first in a series of three plays by the Greek Tragedian {{Sophocles}}. The play tells of the downfall of the king Oedipus from his lofty position, due to hubris (pride), which seems to be the leading cause of death, despair, and destruction in Thebes.

The play opens with a terrible plague ravaging Oedipus' kingdom. Creon, the Queen's brother, return from the oracle at Thebes with news that the plague will not be lifted until the true murderer of the old King is found. The blind prophet Tiresias warns Oedipus that he really ''really'' does not want to know who the true cause of the plague is. However, Oedipus is driven by both [[HonorBeforeReason honor]] and a dedication to his people to root out the cause of this evil. It turns out [[TomatoInTheMirror Oedipus himself]] is the cause of the plague. The reasons behind it are long and complicated.

When Oedipus was born, it was foretold he would kill his father and marry his mother. His father orders his son to be left in the wilderness to die. [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim This does]] [[GenreBlind not work.]] Oedipus ends up being adopted by another pair of royals who fail to tell him that they are not his birth parents. Oedipus eventually gets wind of the prophecy from his birth and [[{{Irony}} leaves home to avoid that fate]]. He ends up heading back towards his birth kingdom to solve the RiddleOfTheSphinx. On the way he unknowingly encounters his father, who, for lack of a better term, cuts Oedipus off in traffic. Words are exchanged and by the end of it Oedipus' real father is dead by his hand. Continuing on his way, he solves the Riddle of the Sphinx, freeing his birth kingdom from the beast. In gratitude, the people make him king and he unknowingly marries his mother. [[ParentalIncest And has children with her.]] It is this state of affairs, his father's blood on his hands and his, erm, relationship with his mother, that has thrown things out of whack in his kingdom.

Oedipus' wife/mother figures things out shortly before he does and hangs herself. Upon finding her body, Oedipus [[EyeScream gouges his eyes out with her broaches.]] Now a completely broken man, Oedipus goes into exile with his children.

The other two plays are ''Theater/OedipusAtColonus'' and ''Theater/{{Antigone}}''. [[MissingEpisode Fragments of another play]], ''The Progeny'', were discovered in 2005. ''The Progeny'' was about the Seven Against Thebes.
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!!This play contains examples of:

*BlindSeer - Teiresias. And like most prophets, nobody listens to him until it's too late.
*BreakTheHaughty - In spades. Oedipus goes from a strong and beloved king to a shell of his former self in the course of a single day.
*EyeScream - A broach pin to the eye cannot feel good.
*{{Irony}} - This play reeks of it.
*ItWasHisSled - The play was based on an old story and written with the expectation that the audience knew the ending.
*{{Pride}} - Couldn't have a Greek tragedy without some hubris.
*MoralDissonance - A lot of people forget that the whole situation came about because Oedipus [[UnstoppableRage killed a whole lot of people]], including his father, for what amounts to [[DisproportionateRetribution cutting him off in traffic]]. ValuesDissonance?
*NewerThanTheyThink - The play is OlderThanFeudalism but is actually a ''prequel'' to ''{{Antigone}}''.
*OedipusComplex - Averted, actually. While Freud named his (in)famous complex after him, Oedipus does not actually show any signs of this. He murders his father and marries his mother without realizing who either one truly is.
*ParentalIncest - Oedipus' wife is his mother and all his children are also his half-siblings.
*PropheciesAreAlwaysRight - Unfortunately for Oedipus.
*RiddleOfTheSphinx
*ScrewDestiny - Subverted. Oedipus tried this but in Greece [[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou Destiny screws you.]]
*ValuesDissonance - To a Greek watching this play, Oedipus would've deserved what was coming to him because of his pride. Nowadays, it just seems kinda mean spirited.
*WhyDontYouJustShootHim - Seriously, when has abandoning your child in the wild ever worked in these sorts of situations? That's just asking for the gods to screw you over.
** It's probably because the gods ''hate'' kinslayers. They do stuff like turn you into wolves and the like, you don't want to save your palm from being burnt by cutting off your hand after all.
*YouCantFightFate - Despite his best intentions, Oedipus ends up fulfilling the terms of his prophecy.

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