[9급 국가직 영어 2024년 13번]

The tragedies of the Greek dramatist Sophocles have come to be regarded as the high point of classical Greek drama. Sadly, only seven of the 123 tragedies he wrote have survived, but of these perhaps the finest is Oedipus the King. The play was one of three written by Sophocles about Oedipus, the mythical king of Thebes (the others being Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus), known collectively as the Theban plays. Sophocles conceived each of these as a separate entity, and they were written and produced several years apart and out of chronological order. Oedipus the King follows the established formal structure and it is regarded as the best example of classical Athenian tragedy.