Why did Sophocles write 'Oedipus Rex'?

Answer 1

There is no surviving written record by Sophocles (c. 496 B.C.E.* - c. 406 B.C.E.) as to why he wrote the play "Oedipus Rex."

But one educated guess may be the playwright's known competitiveness. Aeschylus (c. 525/524 B.C.E. - c. 456/455 B.C.E.) had gotten a lot of respect with his Theban cycle of plays that culminated with "Seven Against Thebes." So why could Sophocles not do likewise?

Another may be the author's commitment to filling a gap in the available literature on Theban history, legend and mythology. Fellow playwright Aeschylus wrote of Thebes in terms of the myth of the cursed Oedipus and of his descent from the cursed house of Labdacus. But Aeschylus' writings were not comprehensive. They did not tell the complete story of the full horrors of the cursed descendants of that divinely descended and troubled house.

Still another may be Sophocles' awareness of the popularity of the topic. Two subjects of interest to the play going public were always Thebes and Troy.

Yet another may be his attraction to the range ofthemes that the Oedipus story allows. For example, the story raises the question of how much one really knows about others, oneself and one's bloodline. It raises another question about the responsibility of the individual for the unknowing committing of heinous, repugnant crimes.

*Before the Christian/Common Era