Oedipus arrives at Thebes and finds the city under the curse of the Sphinx who will not free the city unless the riddle is answered. Oedipus solves the riddle and is rewarded and made king. Laius, former king, has been killed and Oedipus has married the widowed queen, Iokaste. Now another plague is raging and the people of Thebes have asked Oedipus to rescue them. Kreon, Iokaste's brother returns from Apollo's oracle with the news that Laius's murder must be punished in order to rid the city of the plague. Teiresias, a blind prophet is summoned in an effort to discover the murderer, and under protest, reveals that Oedipus is the murderer of Laius, and that Iokaste is his mother. Iokaste in despair commits suicide, and Oedipus is devastated and blinds himself as punishment and asks to be exiled.

As the play opens, Oedipus displays qualities of a...