By 500 B.C., Greek
tragedy had reached a high point of popularity and was celebrated in religious festivals honoring Dionysus,
god of wine and fertility. The paper shows that, taking it for granted that their audiences were
familiar with the characters and themes, writers during this time based their dramatizations on myth and ritual. It discusses how, in addition to being familiar with the stories acted out on stage, the audience was aware of the workings of a Greek
tragedy: how it progresses, what constitutes a tragic hero, what kinds of conflicts characters face, what moral statement or observation is being made. The paper shows that these four components provide the foundation for "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles and its enduring success as one of the greatest tragedies of all time.