Oedipus the King ( IPA: [oidípuːs týranːos],
Oidipous Tyrannos), also known by its Latin title
Oedipus Rex, is an
Athenian tragedy by
Sophocles that was first performed about 429 BC. Of his three Theban Plays that deal with
Oedipus,
Oedipus the King was the second to be written. However, in terms of the chronology of events that the plays describe, it comes first, followed by
Oedipus at Colonus and then
Antigone.