Oedipe

play by Voltaire

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July 1, 2026

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Voltaire's Oedipe is a tragedy that premiered in 1718, marking a significant point in 18th-century French theater. While drawing from the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus, the king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, Voltaire's play emphasizes pathos and sentimentality over terror.12

The myth of Oedipus, famously retold by Sophocles, involves a prophecy that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Despite attempts to avoid this fate, he inadvertently fulfills it. The story has been a profound influence on literature and art, inspiring numerous adaptations and even lending its name to Sigmund Freud's Oedipus complex.2

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Voltaire
Heritage and youth
…1718, after the success of Oedipe, the first of his tragedies, he was acclaimed as the successor of the great classical dramatist Jean Racine and thenceforward adopted the name of Voltaire. The origin of this pen name remains doubtful. It is not certain that it is the anagram of Arouet…
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…1718, after the success of Oedipe, the first of his tragedies, he was acclaimed as the successor of the great classical dramatist Jean Racine and thenceforward adopted the name of Voltaire. The origin of this pen name remains doubtful. It is not certain that it is the anagram of Arouet…
Read More