ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Oedipus that could also be that abstract king whose story can be summarized in a few lines. It considers then at the outset what took place at the 'Teatro Olimpico' on 3 March 1585 during the carnival period in Vicenza: the performance of Edipo tiranno. It really was an astonishing performance, worthy of the astonishing monument it inaugurated, an 'ancient theatre' built between 1580 and 1585. The play lasted for three and a half hours, but the spectators began to arrive nine and a half hours before the beginning of the performance. So it was a unique privilege for the people of Vicenza: they had revived ancient tragedy in its original setting, an ancient theatre, and were not only the 'first' since Trissin's Sofonisba had been played half a century beforehand, but also, thanks to Palladio and to Oedipus the King, the best.
