The Arab Oedipus: Oriental Perspectives on the Myth

This article investigates five Arab plays based on the Greek Oedipus legend: Tawfīq Al-Ḥakīm’s King Oedipus, ‘Alī Aḥmad Bākṯīr’s The Tragedy of Oedipus, Fawzī Fahmī’s ‘Awdat Al-Ġā’ib (The Return of the Absent), ‘Alī Sālim’s The Comedy of Oedipus: You’re the One Who Killed the Beast, and Walīd Iḫlāṣī’s Oedipus: A Modern Tragedy. These leading Arab playwrights have used the Oedipus myth more than any other Greek legend as a source text for their plays. The present article is an in-depth analysis of the Arabization of the Greek myth and of the different perspectives implicit in the various Arab versions of Oedipus. It shows the Arab playwrights’ departures from and sincere portrayal of the Greek Oedipus legend to suit Arab audiences.