Oedipus Rex and The Poetics

A play blurred by melancholy and marred by an eldritch tune, Oedipus Rex was Sophocles’ timeless masterpiece that wrestles with the tragedy of free will. Alleged to have been performed around 420 BC at the City Dionysia, Athens, Oedipus Rex took home second place and further bagged a mention in Aristotle’s Poetics for having brought to light, in his judgement, how drama should be made. Showcasing with sublime cruelty the trickery of Fate, Oedipus Rex does what the Greeks did best and brings to life a world choked by vicissitudes, where a ‘happy ending’ is but a twisted misfortune.