Here is a strong and proud city. Here is the same city, but destroyed and infertile. Its flights
of steps first dignify the hero, then shove him to his downfall. At the end, these stairs lead
the hero to the highest level, the divine, which belongs to none other than Man, to the one
that once deciphered the Sphinx. On the horizon, there is a mountain that casts shade upon
the city and, although distant, it is always dreadfully present. These are some of elements that
build the scenario of the dramatic poem Oedipus Trilogy from João de Castro Osório, a poet,
essayist, literary critic and dramatist situated, in the Lusitanian tradition of the Neo-romantic
aesthetic. This article focuses on the construction of the mythical place of Thebes as well as on
the elements that symbolize and embody the implicit meanings of the myth. Therefore, it is
intended to illustrate how the construction of the scenario corresponds to the concept, both in
space and time, of the tragic.