In this sense, the time and setting of these two plays are less significant because each of the two addresses universal questions of fate, destiny, free will, and the meaning of life, which are as current today as they were over 2000 years ago, when Oedipus Rex was written, for instance. The Darker Face of the Earth reflects many of the themes and plot elements that also occur in the ancient Greek play by Sophocles entitled Oedipus Rex. In both cases, although the protagonists are faced with challenges by the powerful forces of destiny, their fate is direct consequence of their choice regarding the exercise...

Both Augustus and Oedipus are victims of their own bloody choices. Because their actions are no longer controlled by rational thought, they exercise their free will poorly hence they must accept the consequences of their actions and suffer the painful fate that they themselves have created.
Bower, B. "Oedipus Wrecked." Science News 140(16) (1991): 248-250.

Dove, Rita. The Darker Face of the Earth. Story Line Press, 1996

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Pocket, 1994

Vellacott, P.H. "The Guilt of Oedipus." Greece & Rome 2nd Ser., Vol. 11, No.…