Sophocles' Oedipus Rex

by Harold Bloom

First presented between 429 and 425 B.C., Oedipus Rex is the most well known extant tragedy by the fifth century Greek dramatist Sophocles. The sheer volume of performances and reinterpretations of the work in the intervening centuries speaks to its enduring power. Sophocles' Oedipus was itself a new version of an older myth, the story of an abandoned child who unwittingly fulfills a prophecy that he will murder his father and marry his mother. In this tragic episode, Sigmund Freud found a manifestation of the human urges he called the Oedipus Complex, a psychoanalytic reading of Sophocles' play that literary critics have spent the last century combating. This collection of essays draws upon a rich history of criticism and commentary on Oedipus Rex to examine the questions of fate, free will, heroism, and humanity that the tragedy continues to provoke.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Fiction, Drama, Tragedy, Literary Criticism, Greece

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an easy read despite the old language. It does a good job having the themes and main ideas obvious in the text. What I would say that I did not like was how Oedipus was very clueless and hardhead when all of the evidence and information he needed was right there in his face. I would recommend this book for AP students during the first weeks of the class, just to give them the feel for AP Lit.

[Janiah Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oedipus Rex was an interesting story to me because you don't often read about a son marrying and having kids by his own mother. For me as I continued reading it created more suspense. I always enjoy books that creates suspense for me, always leaving me guessing what's happening next. I usually don't tragic romantic stories liked this but after reading Oedipus Rex it changed my perspective on books similar to it.

[Momina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright so, this book comprises of 10 essays each of which discusses Sophocles' play in a different light:

E.R. Dodds draws some very interesting parallels between Milton's endeavor in Paradise Lost (justifying the ways of God to man) and Sophocles' Greek tragedy. He considers and answers three common stances that undergrads usually adopt about Oedipus Rex.

Thomas Gould takes Dodd's observations further and talks much about the doctrines of free will, determinism and fatalism and raises challenging questions about their working in the drama.

Bernard Knox discusses Oedipus as a character, an embodiment, representation and as a symbol and also discusses the underpinnings of his action and thought in the drama.

Rebecca W. Bushnell points to instances of speech and silence in the drama, while Jonathan Lear, in his clever essay, talks of the nature and consequences of the phenomenon of "knowing".

Pietro Pucci unearths irony in the language and his commentary is very, very interesting and insightful. Martha C. Nussbaum rejects the famous belief of Oedipus being "oedipal" and denies all sexual undertones in the play and in Oedipus' action to the possible horror of neo-Freudians. ;)

There are, of course, a few more essays in this book and they are also full of clever commentary. I not only suggest this book to students of Greek drama but also to humble fans of Sophocles. The insights in this book will surely increase your appreciation and love for Oedipus Rex which, for me, is one of the finest dramas ever written.

[Jennifer Ayala Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The play of Oedipus Rex is a very strange and different story. It's full of incest, betrayal, and drama which is all caused because of the theme of inevitable fate. I thought it was a very good plot that keeps people on their feet. Yet, something that can distract the reader from enjoying the play is the old English language that can be difficult to understand at times. I found myself reading passages over and over to really get what was happening. Overall, it is an odd and disturbing story for one to read but it will definitely make your life a bit more interesting!

[Abdullah Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful play of Greek mythology, written about fate and free will of a man. This play is having 5 scenes and every single of them is full of suspense and surprises. The dialogues are written in such a beautiful way that you’d want to read it twice and thrice. While reading, we feel as we're seeing everything before our eyes. The expression of anger, surprise and sadness are used amazingly.
After finishing, the reader's mind became flooded with questions, about free will and fate of humans. The book expands our thinking and perception.

[malina rusu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the character of Jocasta to be quite trivial. I can’t get the image of Sophocles writing her to say something along the lines of, “Yeah, all boys want to sleep with their mothers.” Freud is celebrating in the afterlife right now. But no, as I was saying, it’s kind of hilarious how much emphasis is put on the words of the oracles. They were all definitely high off shrooms anyways, babbling on and on. And how many different names does Apollo really need? Nevertheless, I enjoyed this drama. One of the classics that will stick with me, for sure.

[Arissa Hoque · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Oedipus Rex by Sophocles as the characters were very complex. The protagonist Oedipus was sentenced to face fate regardless of all he did to avoid it. Even though his actions were wrong he was not an inherently bad character nor was he good. His relationship with the people around him were filled with twists that one couldn’t imagine. Overall this book left readers wondering what would happen next.

[Aidan EP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a uni course. I mean it’s good and it gets kind of gripping by the middle and I understand why it’s so famous (well really it’s famous because of Sigmund Freud) but I didn’t enjoy it THAT much so there we go three stars for mother sex man.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult to read but was a key factor in the formation of my character at a young age.

[Lyric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story was overall interesting and the characters were interesting as well. Would recommend other people to read it.

[Anis Zahirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literature class

[Chinese Room · Rating 5 out of 5]

It manages to be just as incomprehensible and frightening today as it was over two millennia ago.

[Gena Lott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tragedy that set the standard.

[Martyr In Another · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gods damn.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still easily one of my favorite tragedies everrrr

4,5/5☆

[Giannie Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is one confusing novel, I recommend this book to people who loves mystery and romance all in one . Another thing is a guy name Oedipus is the main character in this novel and was accused of killing a guy name Laius but he didn't know he was the killer till his mom/wife told him the prediction of might've happened and Oedipus realized it was him who killed him. You may wonder why didn't he remembered he killed Laius is because he's blind. Also Oedipus found out that the person he killed was his real father. I advise anyone who loves drama and intensity this book is for you. I personally didn't really find this book interesting because I'm not a consistent reader so I fogey everything and it was hard for me to get the concept of this novel

[Juan Gonzalez · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the play Oedipus, i noticed that in the book it turned out to have a very strange irony. Also in the play, Oedipus is the king which kind of dosen't play out to me, like how did he become the king in the first place. This play is a good play if one may like stories with a weird plot twist into it. This play on my perspective is O.K. The story itself is not good and good at the same time. The story itself is a good one and can be adjusted just a bit more with some more detail. In coclusion, the story is good if you like dramatic irony plays that make you actually think, "What in the world."

[Kat Ioannides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third time reading- second time in an academic setting. I love reading this play, not as much as Shakespeare, but enough not to get horribly annoyed when teachers keep assigning it. I think i've grasped all the major themes- pride, fate, knowing, family, etc. We talked about the Frued's Oedipus complex which was interesting.

[Emily O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was wonderful to read and to study. It explores the limit of what humans can forsee and control regarding their fate- a fascinating topic as tragedy can really hit any of us at any moment. This is brilliant.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most likely the saddest book you could read--and yet, the feeling of emotional release is uplifting once the book is done. A traumatizing thing to kills one's father and marry one's mother.

[Sue-Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crave not mastery in all..

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this play! Been teaching it for eight years. Will continue to teach it as long as I have seniors.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good read with very dark themes and elements to keep you on your feet.

[Ido Tamir]

Better than antigone and although the family tree is a bit weird by modern standards it was interesting

[Myhte]

nothing can excuse the gods

[Abraham Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was gross but other than that pretty good, I like how short the book is.