Early in the play it is clarified that the disease is a cattle zoonosis of high mortality rate (“a blight upon the grazing flocks and herds,” line 26, with the herds being cattle,) ( 2, 3). Sophocles describes the main characteristics of the epidemic through sporadic sentences. In line 28 the word plague (λοιμός) appears for the first time, with the Greek word for disease (νόσος) being used in lines 150, 217, and 303 ( 2, 3). The fate of Oedipus emerges as a truly tragic one, not so much because he caused the plague, but because of the character’s own personal tragedy ( Figure 2).Ī Medical Critical Approach to Oedipus Rexįrom the start of the drama, the plague in Thebes is a serious matter, as in line 23 where it is referred to as “weltering surge of blood” (φοινίου σάλου). Therefore, although the first part of the play is rife with references to the plague and its consequences, in the second part there are only sporadic referrals to the epidemic. At the moment that Tiresias reveals to Oedipus that the king himself is the cause of the plague (lines 350–353), the epidemic becomes a secondary issue, and, as a result, there are only occasional references to the plague during the remainder of the play (lines 665–666, 685–686, 1380–1383, 1424–1428) ( 2, 3). ![]() Searching for the miasma, Oedipus summons the blind prophet Tiresias to reveal who is responsible for this evil (lines 300–313) ( 2, 3). In lines 167–215 the Chorus stays on stage to summarize the situation and beg for salvation ( 2, 3). Oedipus asks the citizens to stop praying and focus on finding the cure (lines 142–146) ( 2, 3). The oracle announces that the plague is a result of religious pollution and that the god Apollo requests that the people of Thebes exile the previously unknown “miasma” (a word of Greek origin with a sense of moral noxious pollution) away from the town (lines 96–98) ( 2, 3). The king has already taken some action to deal with this harm by sending his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to ask for a salvation plan (lines 68–72). The devastating plague that dominates Thebes is presented to the audience through the dialogue between Oedipus and the Priest (lines 1–67) ( 2, 3). In the first scene of the play, Sophocles presents the basic social and historical axes around which he will unfold the plot. The ultimate goals of our study were to clarify whether the plague described in Oedipus Rex could reflect an actual historical event, compare it with the plague of Athens, which was described by the historian Thucydides as occurring not long before the time that Sophocles’ work appeared ( 4), and propose the most likely causative pathogen. Given the potential medical interest of Oedipus Rex, we decided to adopt a critical perspective by analyzing the literary descriptions of the plague, unraveling its clinical features, defining the underlying cause, and discussing possible therapeutic options. The epidemic, in fact, is mostly a matter that serves the theatrical economy by forming a background for the evolution of the plot. Several sections, primarily in the first third of the play, refer to the aforementioned plague the epidemic, however, is not the primary topic of the tragedy. Oedipus Rex, apart from the undeniable literary and historic value, also presents significant medical interest because the play mentions a plague, an epidemic, which was devastating Thebes, the town of Oedipus’ hegemony. The play has been labeled an analytical tragedy, meaning that the crucial events which dominate the play have happened in the past ( 2, 3). The writing of the tragedy Oedipus the King (original Greek title Οιδίπους τύραννος, most commonly known as Oedipus Rex) is placed in the first half of the decade 430–420 bc. ![]() Bust of Sophocles in the Colonnade of the Muses in the Achilleion, Corfu, Greece, July 2011.
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