Submitted by andrew nitzberg, Jun 14, 2007 12:25

I had a fun experience with a young woman who described herself as a '5th Year English Major' and did not understand that 'Oedipus Rex' was the same play as 'Oedipus the King'.

I owned a small bookstore 15 years ago and she came in to ask for 'Oedipus the King'. I did my 'the Oedipus series is one of only two extant complete Greek trilogies' speech as I escorted her to the shelf. When i proudly offered her 'Oedipus Rex' and she protested she had been assigned 'Oedipus the King', I was taken aback. Assuring her that they were the same play, rex being the Latin word for king, I asked her which high school she atteneded. Our interaction took a turn for the worse as she responded she was a college student. It became even worse when i asked her if she was a 'business administration' major and she coldly revealed her status as a couple of credits short of a masters degree in English Literature.

We, my employee and I, then started a wager. I was cofidant that at least 7 of the next 10 persons entering the BOOKstore would know the title 'Oedipus Rex'. He said he would be surprised if anyone would recognize the play.

He won. It wasn't close. But she earned a masters degree in English Literature..... At the end of that day I felt very old.

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