Italian cult director Pasolini reimagines Sophocles' ancient Greek tragedy "King Oedipus" in "Edipo Re" (Oedipus Rex), splitting the narrative between a 1920s contemporary setting and classical antiquity. In the modern section, a beautiful woman nurses her young son in a meadow while his father secretly fears the child will steal her away. In the ancient Greek portion, King Laios learns from the Oracle of Delphi that his newborn son Oedipus will kill him and sleep with his own mother, prompting the king to abandon the boy.
Despite Laios' attempt to prevent the prophecy, it comes to pass when Oedipus, raised by the King of Corinth, encounters his biological father in a quarrel and unknowingly kills him. After slaying the Sphinx, Oedipus is rewarded with the hand of Iocasta in marriage, unaware that she is his true mother and the widow of the king he just murdered. Pasolini's dual-timeline approach creates a complex exploration of fate, psychology, and the timeless nature of this classical tragedy.