5 Key Facts about Oedipus Rex No drama before or since has managed to so successfully combine a rapid, compelling plot, superb characterization, and elegant poetry into such a tight bundle.

2. The REAL tragedy of O. R. is not so much that O 2. The REAL tragedy of O.R. is not so much that O. commits two horrendous crimes; after all, he was fated to do so, and committed them unknowingly. It is, rather, that he, like his doomed parents before him, ran headlong into the destiny he was trying to defy, and then compounded his evils by his imperious refusal to believe the prophet’s declaration of his guild. PRIDE was his downfall.

3. O.R. is notable for its use of dramatic irony: everyone in the audience knows from the start that O. himself is the guilty party he seeks out for punishment. The viewer’s enjoyment comes as they see and hear the facts accumulate, bit by bit, until it suddenly dawns on O. that he is his murderer. 4. The most tragic irony, however, lies in the fact that the Hubris (excessive pride) of which Oedipus is guilty is the same quality that he used earlier to defeat the Sphinx & save an oppressed city.

5. And the Sphinx, who haunts the background of the play with her terrible riddle, says all that is necessary: the true enigma of the universe lies not in any exotic intergalactic phenomenon; the greatest mystery begin and ends with man.

The Oracles In classical antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination. (The word oracle comes from the Latin verb ōrāre "to speak" and properly refers to the priest or priestess uttering the prediction. In extended use, oracle may also refer to the site of the oracle, and to the oracular utterances themselves).

Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse, showing eight priestesses in a temple of prophecy.

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