Oedipus Rex

Starring: Rain, Douglas and Campbell, Douglas

Theban king Oedipus slays his father and defiles his mother in Sophocles' tragedy translated by Yeats.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 014381154924
• Release Date: June 2002
• Rating: Unrated (Not Rated)
• Publisher: Image/Sphe
• Director: Guthrie, Tyrone
• Starring: Rain, Douglas, Campbell, Douglas
• Runtime: 1 hour, 28 minutes
• Number of Disks: 1
• Other Video Info: Multiple Formats; Color; NTSC
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

“...the seer can indeed see."

This is a 1957 recording of the stage production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. It is performed with minimal props and some smoke. As was the custom in ancient Greece, the players wore masks. The masks are larger than life and do not cover the whole face, allowing for some expression and clarity. Coordinating with the masks are certain colored robes; there is a gold mask for the king, a silver mask for the queen, a white mask for the seer, corresponding colors for major players, and the chorus. Speaking of the chorus. I have the DVD and have watched it several times. Suddenly, looking at the chorus, there was a 26-year-old William Shatner; he looked like a baby. The play is the story told over two thousand years ago of the destruction of one man so that his people might live. Oedipus will gradually discover that he fulfilled the prophecy and the crime of killing his father and marrying his mother. The actual wording of the play may vary from the written version. Now, after the introduction and background, watch as the citizens approach and see the unfolding of this tragedy. Reading "Oedipus and Akhnaton" by Immanuel Velikovsky may shine a different light on this play.