Seneca’s

is the only surviving Roman tragedy on the myth of Oedipus. The exact dating of Seneca’s tragedies remains a much vexed question; however, it is very likely that the

together with the

and the

belong to the poet’s early production. The play has received so far little attention compared with the rest of Seneca’s tragedies, possibly because of its common subject with Sophocle’s

and the emblematic role of the Sophoclean play

in the study of classical drama, as this was established by Aristotle in his

. The older claim for the direct derivation of Seneca’s

from Sophocles’

is now considered to be nothing more than unjustifiable assumption. Furthermore, the Sophoclean play does not…

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Citation: Michalopoulos, Charilaos N.. "Oedipus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 May 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13466, accessed 22 November 2024.]