When an oracle declares that the only way to end the plague on Thebes is to find the murderer of Laius, Oediups sets out to uncover the truth of the old king’s death. He discovers that the king was struck down by Oedipus himself in a roadside quarrel, and was in fact Oedipus’ true father. Having solved the riddle of the Sphinx shortly after Laius’ death, Oedipus was declared King of Thebes, and given the hand of the lovely Jocasta – his own mother.

Out of over 120 plays, only seven of Sopohocles’ tragic masterpieces have survived to the present day. Oedipus the King is one of the Theban plays, which focus on three generations of Oedipus’ family and the curse that befalls them.

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