Sophocles
Oedipus Rex is a classified as an ancient Greek Tragedy, and was produced and written as a play in Athens by a wealthy elite named Sophocles. Sophocles was a famous artist even before writing Oedipus Rex, but is most well known for his series including Oedipus and his dramatic irony.
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is defined as The dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity. The audience knows what is going to happen to Oedipus before it happens. Dramatic irony is a way to compel your audience to feel sad for the tragic hero without being confused or unaware of his pain. Oedipus is the tragic hero, and the audience relates to him through dramatic irony.
Teiresias
Teiresias is the son of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. She is constantly struggling to feel excepted by the other people of her kingdom, for they don't respect her and her mark of being an inbred girl. Teiresias is a story of a strong woman, probably the first feminist play ever written, and follows her as she struggles socially in her own life and outside in others. She follows the path any other hero would.
Fate
Fate is a very broad word with a very broad definition. Fate could simply be something you feel that pushes you towards your goals, something your control and make for yourself, or something that you may not even believe exists. To the ancient Greek people, fate was a very important term. Fate was everything to them. In Greek mythology, fate was decided by the oracle of Delphi. Once your fate was determined, you couldn't change it or escape it. Fate was inevitable.
Greek Theater
Greek theater is one of the greatest forms of art and expression throughout history. Greek theater began as a term to describe the idea of huge amphitheaters sometimes holding over 10,000 people all watching a long, play or event together, but it soon evolved to something much more. Greek theater has now become a style. To have a Greek play is to speak in a certain way and follow the hero's circle, but usually a tragic one. Dramatic irony is one of the traits of Greek theater too.
Oedipus Rex
As the character, it is debatable if a real Oedipus ever lived, or if any of this tragic story is based off any real events. Nonetheless, Oedipus is a character we can all enjoy and find our own tragedy comforting in. Oedipus is a king, and a strange one at that. He was fated to kill his father and marry his mother, which was a common monomer for young royal bloodline boys of that time. His parents, disobeying the gods and attempting to change the inevitable fate, told one of their servants to chain Oedipus high atop a mountain and drive steel stakes into his ankles so he couldn't escape. But the servant, taking pity on the young boy, took him to a nearby kingdom to the king and queen that lived there, for he knew they could not produce a child of their own. The king and queen accepted him for theirs to raise, naming him Oedipus after his swollen ankles. His real parents never knew that Oedipus lived this, and when a town drunk told Oedipus that his real parents had left him to die, he was devastated. The town drunk was right, but when Oedipus asked his adopted parents if this was true, they told him that they were defiantly his real parents and not to worry about the drunk, because after all, he is just a drunk. Oedipus believes them, and soon, after a series of events and a riddling sphinx, the fate he so desperately tried to avoid is fulfilled. Oedipus dies as a tragic hero, and is told through a dramatic irony sense.
Aristotle
As a brief overview, Aristotle is a very interesting character. He not only attended Plato's School of Thought, but also founded his own Academy soon after Plato's death. Aristotle was known as an incredibly intelligent man, so intelligent that he is credited for all of Alexander the Great's master battle strategy tactics and ability to take control and maintain over such a large empire. Aristotle is also credited with coming up with the idea of logic and reason, and using emotion as a tool. Tragedy is one of his tools he founded. He wrote many books about the idea of tragedy, often describing it as feeling happy about your sadness in a way that others could relate to. Tragedy was taken much further than this obviously, but it was Aristotle that initially came up with many of the fundamentals for it. Aristotle also came up with the idea of Hubris. Hubris means "Pride", but Aristotle always argued that pride is a bad thing. It keeps you from feeling all of the emotions you can, and can often get you into something that is way over your head. Aristotle also made a bold point that all bad things are derived from a man's pride. Aristotle was truly before his time, it would have been great to see what he would think of our world today.
