What is the meaning of 'Oedipus Rex'?

Answer 1

That mistaken self-identities and recklessness trip up personal happiness and professional success is the meaning of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus has no idea that all that he thinks he knows about himself and his parentage is false. He falls back on panic-stricken choices whenever he feels cornered. His mistaken self-image and his reckless decision making ultimately cause him to lose everything and everyone that give his life meaning other than his two daughters, the Princesses Antigone and Ismene.
To show that you cannot escape your fate is the purpose of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban monarchs Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus hear prophecies of horrifying fates. Laius and Jocasta make an effort to sabotage their prophecy by arranging to have their three-day-old infant son Oedipus killed. But Oedipus manages to survive. As an adult, he receives a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He runs away and tries to start a new life. But it turns out that an older version whom he kills on the way to Thebes and an older woman whom he marries indeed are his biological parents despite all his efforts to the contrary.