Brilliantly conceived and written, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (429 BC) dramatises the self-discovery and tragic downfall of Oedipus, the King of Thebes. Because of his concern for the welfare of Thebes, Oedipus continues to pursue the truth impulsively and rashly, facing the terrible consequences of his deeds. He finds out, as foreordained by the Oracle at Delphi, that he has killed his own father (Laius), married his own mother (Jocasta) and thereby brought down a plague on …showed first 75 words of 800 total…

…showed last 75 words of 800 total…of Laius and his relentless seeking of the murderer, to his violent blinding of himself and voluntary embracing of exile. His lack of temperance leads him inevitably to his undoing. Paradoxically, however, his shortcoming also results in the magnificent metamorphosis of the arrogant Oedipus the King into the humbled Oedipus the man. Thus, even while Oedipus the King brings about his material downfall through intemperance, Oedipus the man rises to greater spiritual heights through courage.