Theban plays: King Oedipus; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone. Sophocles. 1974.

The legends surrounding the royal house of Thebes inspired Sophocles (496-406BC) to create a powerful trilogy about mankind’s struggle against fate. King Oedipus tells of a man who brings pestilence to Thebes for crimes he does not realize he has committed and who then inflicts a brutal punishment upon himself. With profound insights into the human condition, it is a devastating portrayal of a ruler brought down by his own oath. Oedipus at Colonus provides a fitting conclusion to the life of the aged and blinded king, while Antigone depicts the fall of the next generation, through the conflict between a young woman ruled by her conscience and a king too confident of his own authority.