"Οιδίπους Τύραννος" by Sophocles is a tragedy believed to have been first performed around 428 BCE. When plague devastates Thebes, King Oedipus vows to find and punish the murderer of the previous king, Laius, whose crime has brought divine wrath upon the city. His determined investigation leads him toward a terrible discovery about his own identity and past. The play explores the inescapable nature of fate and how attempts to avoid prophecy can fulfill it. Many critics, including Aristotle, consider it the greatest tragedy ever written.