n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4 out of 5 stars to Oedipus Rex, the first of "The Theban Plays," written by Sophocles around 430 BC. If you are unfamiliar with Greek tragedies, the thing you need to know most is that the authors often played with the concept of fate: not just that some things are meant to be or to come back and haunt you, but that there is always more going on than you realize at the time. This is one of the plays you should absolutely read. Although borderline spoiler, it's important to know 1 fact about the play, as it plays into the mind of so many psychologists today when they speak about an Oedipal Complex, as in all young boys (kids?) fall in love with their mothers at some point. Essentially, Oedipus kills the King and marries the King's wife. Little does he know.... that was his father and she is his mother. Whaaaaattttt? How does that happen? Seriously... well, the plot is intricate, the history is insane... and it's only the first of three in this trilogy. Find a translation and read it. It's a little convoluted, and the language may be a bit metaphorical in too many places, but the characters and the plot is amazing!

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Oedipus Rex is a fantastic play from around 430BC that is evidently timeless, as it has been popular during the entirety of its long life. It is twisted, clever, shocking, sickening and mind provoking.

By studying this piece, it showed how much depth there really is to this play, and the colossus amount that can be said about any number of subjects it tackles and portrays.

The characters are diverse and intricate, with Oedipus featuring as the major character. His fatal flaw is his blindness. This hamartia leads the character through a journey of destruction and realisation, resulting in catastrophe and extreme reactions. It was impossible to predict how each cast member would react to the horrifying events that unfolded. and how the play would conclude.

Oedipus Rex was a very interesting and gripping short play. It is obvious to me why it is recognised as such a seminal work. I would recommend to any who enjoy phycological ideals portrayed in plays, and those who enjoy theatre and ancient literature.

if you see me building a shrine for Sophocles, mind your business, i'm too in love with this man

This is an absolute masterpiece of drama that has yet to be surpassed in dramatic tension and sheer perfection of its construction. There is no line wasted here: from start to finish, the drama and tension keeps increasing. It is much shorter than I expected: it delivers all its drama without any filler.

The story of Oedipus, who unkowingly murdered his father and married his mother, was known to audiences who watched the play in ancient Greece and it is known to modern readers as well. (Modern editions would have an introduction explaining it; if yours does not, get another one, or look it up on Wikipedia). This is essential to the high tension in the play: it is Oedipus who must find out and confront the truth, it is his gradual reckoning and full realization of his terrible crime that we witness.

Oedipus’s crime is fascinating to so many authors because of the crime’s true abhorrence is contrasted with the perpetrators complete ignorance of committing it. We have a sinner here who bears no responsibility of knowledge yet the full responsibility of the consequences. We know it is coming and see him going through the stages of realization and grief as the impact hits him. The tragedy is fully felt by the audience as we see both his guilt and also his innocence. The true tragedy comes from that we feel for him yet we know he must suffer the consequences in order for society to survive. Some rules are inviolate: the prohibition for killing a family member and incest are the most sacred among them.

Sophocles, so many centuries ago, was a master psychologist who takes Oedipus through the five stages of grief.
Denial: Oedipus rejects Teiresias’s truth that he is the problem. Tiresias’s blindness is a metaphor, for he can see the truth but Oedipus cannot. We are so often blinded by our own faults but are quick to condemn others.
Anger: Oedipus angrily didmisses Tiresias and proceeds to blame Kreon for his prophecy.
Bargaining: as he is discovering more clues, he keeps hoping that someone might just contradict the terrible reality that is slowly dawning on him.
Acceptance and depression: as he realizes the truth, the full force hits him and he mourns all he lost and effects on his children.

The dialog is in full service of the drama and tension; the chorus adds interpretation and prayer to the gods.

This play remains one of the most studied, a foundation of all Western drama as we know it, and the best example of the Greek drama tradition. It survives because it explores universal themes of grief and the tragedy of having to face oneself as one’s own worst enemy.

“I want a girl, just like the girl, that married dear old Dad”—Oedipus

But, why accept a copy when you can get the real thing?!

I read this because 1) recently I had read (out of order) Antigone and thought I might reread the whole trilogy; 2) I plan to see a local production of the play and 3) I had some vague notion that the play, about a king, might throw some literary light on our current American King and kingly conduct. I listened to it, though I had to start over 3-4 times because the reader was literally the worst reader of a text I have ever encountered; I would have preferred hearing Siri read the text to this play. I thought he was deliberately doing a flat, comic interpretation at times. He made the already formal language especially stilted and dry. I already preferred Antigone, but this experience made me like the play a little less. But hey, it’s still a classical tragedy that has been read for centuries and a good story.

Oedipus is the first in the trilogy, also known as Oedipus Tyrannus. As you maybe know from the fact that even if you haven’t read the play, Freud’s “Oedipus complex” comes from this play: O became king of Thebes after fulfilling a prophecy made by blind Teresias that he would kill his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jocasta (though he didn’t really know she was his mother, to his credit).

[Let’s pause here and consider this incest question with respect to the presidency; Trump said even if he murdered someone that his base would still vote for him; if he had married his, let’s say, daughter, Ivanka (and you’ve heard what he said about dating her, so this is not so far-fetched), would his base have still voted for him? Consider.]

[Another kingly reflection: Oedipus means “swollen feet,” as his feet had been tightly bound by Laius. Trump is known for having tiny appendages; write a 3-5 page paper reflecting on the implications of appendage size regarding kingly pride.]

So one serious theme the play takes up is the relationship of the individual to the state (as happens in Antigone, too, with King Creon). Each king makes a decision that his subjects question or disobey; each king misconstrues disagreement as rebellion. While Creon saw his mistake, Oedipus refuses to listen to anyone who disagrees with him. Question: Is listening a useful property in a leader?

The blind prophet Tiresias “sees” more than Oedipus, who cannot “see” the truth because his excessive pride has made him “blind.” I leave it to you whether this insight into political leadership from roughly two dozen centuries ago has trickled down to any political leaders we know, but “pride” is Oedipus’s tragic flaw (see Aristotle), which “goeth before his fall.” Discuss.

This play really builds up a lot of steam by its (tragic) end. And it's probably the greatest classical tragedy, by reputation, so in spite of the fact that I connected a bit better to Antigone (because I like that character in the play) better, I still this is a play well-worth reading about politics and human nature.

Baseando-se no famoso mito de Édipo muito conhecido na época, o poeta Sófocles  compõe Édipo Rei , uma peça teatral que melhor representou esse mito e que ficou em primeiro lugar entre as três finalistas. Conta a luta de Édipo para descobrir a verdade sobre a morte do antigo rei  Laio da qual é acusado, e também sua luta para descobrir a verdade sobre si mesmo, verdade esta que é horrenda, surpreendente. Conta também sua luta para fugir das sinas profetizadas pelos Oráculos,quando ele  era ainda uma criança , que diziam que Édipo iria matar o seu próprio pai e casar com sua mãe.

Realmente uma tragédia, pois Édipo está num caminho sem saída e sua família não facilitou nem um pouco sua vida..
Às vezes é melhor não saber, é melhor estar cego para a verdade, você vai saber o porquê de eu estar dizendo isso ao ler esse livro maravilhoso.
Abaixo cito um texto de Francisco Daudt que comenta com prioridade a respeito disso:

“Agora eu te pergunto: Édipo merece essa fama maldita? A meu ver, ele foi colocado numa arapuca inescapável, metido num problema que não era dele, era dos pais. Não deixaram Édipo viver sua própria vida. Ele foi atrelado à vida dos pais, aos assuntos dos pais. E mesmo os reis de Corinto, seus pais de adoção, deixaram uma armadilha esperando por ele, ao sonegar-lhe
sua verdadeira história.”

Tek kelime ile mükemmel. Önsöz kitabın yarısını oluşturuyor ve önbilgi olması adına çok güzel detaylara yer verilmiş. Yalnız geçenlerde okuduğum Zweig eserinin önsözünde yaptıkları gibi yine bütün kitabın hikayesi özetleniyor. Zaten okurken anlayacağımız kısımların neden kısaca özetlendiğine bir türlü anlam veremesem de 2500 sene önce tanrıları ön plana çıkaran bir topluma ait bu eserde tanrıların "keyif",insanların da "kader" dedikleri bu alın yazısı ancak bu kadar güzel yerilebilirdi. Bu vesile ile Tragedya'yı da sevdiğim türler arasına ekledim.

-430 - 2017

Orhan Pamuk'un Kırmızı Saçlı Kadın'ında fazlasıyla spoiler okumuştum. Yine de merakla ve keyifle okudum.

".. son gününü görmeden hiç kimseye mutluluğa ermiş demeyin! "

I'm being irreverent, but whenever I think of this work I cannot help recalling Mel Brooks in History of the World Part 1.

Apart from the legendary, and infamous, incest, this is an ancient tale of psychological terror and angst. Human nature does not change and the themes Sophocles explored are still relevant today, this is truly a timeless work.

n  n    talihsiz oidipus! nasıl oldu da böyle çılgınlığa kapıldın?
hangi intikamcı tanrı kara bahtını büsbütün kararttı?

yazık oldu, ah yazık!

çok isterdim seninle konuşmak, seni dinlemek, ama bakamıyorum yüzüne; dehşetten ürperiyorum!n  n

ufaktan edebiyatla, kahve ve kitaplarla iç içe olan bir yılı geride bırakıyorum.

birçok farklı tür eser okudum, araya bir de oyun sıkıştırmak istedim.



kral oidipus'a başladım, resmen eski türk filmlerindeki bizanslı kötü adamların ortasına düştüm.

olum, aklıma geldikçe gülüyorum, tüm mahalle tren yapmış gibi, hale bak: çocukken terk edilen oidipus, kral polybos'a götürülür ve onun tarafından büyütülür. delikanlı oidipus, bir gün bir dağ yolunda at süren bir soyluya rastlar. aralarında kavga çıkar ve oidipus soyluyu öldürür. sonra kraliçe epikaste'nin kocası ve thebai kentinin kralı olur. oysa dağlarda öldürdüğü adamın babası, yatağına girdiği kadının ise anası olduğundan haberi yoktur. bu arada kader, halkına veba hastalığını musallat eder ve bu salgın hastalık nedeniyle onlara büyük acılar çektirir. oidipus halkının çektiği acıların nedeninin kendisi olduğunu anlayınca gözlerini kör eder ve o kör haliyle thebai'den çıkar gider

hey yavrum hey... neler dönmüş, görüyor musun?

tabii milattan önce beş yüzlü yıllar, telefon yok bişey yok, tragedya tavan.

iyi ki bu eserlerin yazıldığı yıllarda yaşamamışız yemin ediyorum.

şöyle düşün bir de, oidipus'un hikayesinin üzerinden iki bin yıl geçmiş, şimdiki krallar onun kadar şerefli olamıyor.

ay sözcü gazetesi duyarı yaptım, kaçıyorum hemen.

Sure, poke your eyes out. Like that's going to help with anything.

I read this in AP English but the situational irony discussions would turn so funny and unserious that it made me love the play. However idk if it's bc of my classmates or the actual story lol