What are the oldest information sources for research on 'Oedipus Rex'?

Answer 1

Ancient oral traditions, ancient Greek pottery and ancient Greek poetry are the oldest sources of information for any research on "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the play deals with the life and times of Theban King Oedipus, who dies at Colonus, the birthplace of the ancient Greek dramatist Sophocles. The oral traditions in Athens, Colonus, Corinth, Delphi, Phocis and Thebes are the primary information sources since those are the places known to be connected with Oedipus' life and death. From those traditions derive the pertinent art work of the fifth century B.C.E. and the relevant poetry of the following writers:

1. Aeschylus (ca. 525/524 B.C.E. - c. 455/456 B.C.E.) in "Seven Against Thebes";

2. Eurippides (ca. 480 B.C.E. - 406 B.C.E.) in "Chrysippus" and "Phoenissae";

3. Hesiod (fl. eighth century B.C.E.) in "Theogony";

4. Homer (fl. 8th century B.C.E.) in "The Iliad"; and

5. Pindar (ca. 522 B.C.E. - 443 B.C.E.) in his "Second Olympians Ode."