Oedipus, King of Thebes
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Edition from Project Gutenberg. Public-domain rules differ by country, so check yours before downloading.
- First published
- c. 429 BC
- Pages
- 32Digital editionReference edition
- Reading time
- About 40 minutes2 half-hour sittings
- Language
- English
- Reading difficulty
- 6 of 10
A little about the story
Thebes is struck by plague, and King Oedipus vows to find the cause. The oracle says the killer of the old king, Laius, must be found. As Oedipus investigates, every clue points closer to home, until he learns the terrible truth about his own birth.
Sophocles’ tragedy is one of the greatest plays ever written and a gripping detective story. This version is Gilbert Murray’s English rhyming translation, with notes.
Is it for you?
You’ll enjoy it if you like
- Greek tragedy
- plays you can read in an evening
- stories with shattering twists
Maybe not if you dislike rhyming verse translations.
Things You May Not Know About Oedipus, King of Thebes
- The first detective story? Oedipus investigates a crime and turns out to be the culprit.
- Aristotle’s favourite. Aristotle held it up as the model of a perfect tragedy.
- Freud’s complex. Sigmund Freud named the Oedipus complex after it.
- Murray’s version. Gilbert Murray’s rhyming translations were popular on the stage in the early 1900s.
About this edition
Read the Project Gutenberg source record for edition details. The Freebookia PDF has 32 pages. The EPUB adjusts to your reading settings.
Get “Oedipus, King of Thebes”
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