Oedipus the King/YMMV

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• Award Snub - This play is the most famous of all of Greek tragedy. When it was first performed, it got second place at the city Dionysia competition.
• Hey, It's That Guy! - The 1957 version features a very young William Shatner, who is briefly seen at the beginning intro, when the actors have no masks. It was his second film role but unfortunately thanks to the masks we never see which specific chorus member he plays.
  • Douglas Rain, aka HAL 9000, also plays the role of the Messenger.
• It Was His Sled - The play was based on an old story and written with the expectation that the audience knew the ending.
  • It also continues into the present day, thanks in large part to people's familiarity with one particular trope....
• Nausea Fuel - When Oedipus finds out what he has done, he gouges his eyes out with his wife's brooches.
  • He also, you know, had children with his mom…
• Narm - To a modern audience, a lot of Greek theater comes off this way because it is acted in an overly dramatic manner.
  • Upon the revelation that Oedipus is her son, Iocaste immediately leaves the room. A servant walks in shortly afterward to report that the queen has committed suicide. You may or may not find the abruptness of all this hilarious.
  • I KILLED THEM AAAAALLLLL!!!!! AAAAAAAAARARARAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!! AAAAARRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGHH!!! RAAAAAAGH... aaah....
  • An earlier scene also has Tiresias giving his signature warning to Oedipus while falling down and flopping around on the ground as though spontaneously getting heart attacks. The Chorus has to regularly push him back up, almost to the point of playing catch with him, and the fact that he's been made to look like some tremendous ghostly bird does not help.
• Nightmare Fuel - There's a video adaptation out there featuring every actor wearing a gigantic mask with terrifyingly huge, black eyes. Ancient Greek theater was actually performed this way, though.
  • That's the 1957 version, by Tyrone Guthrie, which nowadays is pretty rare and usually held at libraries, but most of it can be viewed at Mgoon.
• Newer Than They Think - The play is Older Than Feudalism but is actually a prequel to Antigone.
• Tear Jerker - It's already awfully sad seeing everything go to pot for Oedipus because of Fate, but perhaps the worst part is when he has to explain to his daughters how they will be viewed as disgusting aberrations all because of him.
• Values Dissonance - Quite a bit. Mainly: To an ancient Greek watching this play, Oedipus would've deserved what was coming to him because of his pride. Nowadays, it just seems kinda mean spirited. There's also the fact that infanticide by exposure was actually common practice in ancient Greece.