Oedipus Rex

In this play by Sophocles, hailed by Aristotle as “the most brilliant example of theatrical plot,” by Francis Fergusson as “a great Athenian mystery play,” and by Jean Cocteau as “a compelling vision of man’s place in a strange and haunted universe,” Oedipus’ determination to be “the investigator, prosecutor and judge of a murderer” leads to the condemnation of his own character and the exile of his own body from the land of Thebes. (Knox in Fagles 1982, p.131–134, 141)