On the road to Thebes, he met Laius, his real father, and, unaware of each other’s true identities, they quarrelled and Oedipus‘ pride led him to murder Laius, fulfilling part of the oracle’s prophecy. Desperate to avoid this foretold fate, and believing Polybus and Merope to be his true parents, Oedipus left Corinth. Stung by rumours that he was not the biological son of the king, Oedipus consulted an oracle which foretold that he would marry his own mother and kill his own father. There he was found and brought up by a shepherd, before being taken in and raised in the court of the childless King Polybus of Corinth as if he were his own son. However, neither she nor her servant could bring themselves to kill him and he was abandoned to elements.

Shortly after Oedipus’ birth, his father, King Laius of Thebes, learned from an oracle that he, Laius, was doomed to perish by the hand of his own son, and so ordered his wife Jocasta to kill the infant.

To briefly recap on the background to the play: Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire (Catullus 8).Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus (Catullus 5).Passer, deliciae meae puellae (Catullus 2).But don't expect to be entertained because it's just not entertaining. Again, this is an important work for historical reasons, and if that's enough for you, by all means listen to it. I'm a huge fan of live theater and strongly recommend most of the LA Theatreworks productions. Look, call me a Philistine if you'd like, I have nothing to prove to you. Again, the actors do a great job, but it's still really boring. The drama comes from Oedipus telling us over and over just how much he's suffering, moaning pitifully (though the modern take would be more ick than woe is me).

This story is told through the framing device of Oedipus, several years later, having all this explained to him and then refusing to believe it, insisting on having various people brought to him to confirm that what we all know is true is true. You already know the Oedipus story: he kills his father and marries his mother.

We expect things like character development and suspense. Drama has evolved somewhat over the last 2500 years. There are plenty of good reasons to want to listen to this play which, like all the LA Theatreworks pieces, is extremely well produced but one of them is not that it's actually an enjoyable listen. OK, it's old, I get that, and it had a lot of influence on later drama.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles