Just read Oedipus Rex in a most cheerful mood. It was an easy read and a cracker, and I couldn't help being tickled at the way everyone kept popping up exactly when they were needed - "Let's ask the blind prophet - Ah, there he is!" or "Go and find the Corinthian Shepherd whom no one has seen for the past 40 years - Oh, there he comes!"
Anyway, I already knew the story, as I suppose most people would, including Sophocles' original audience, and the main entertainment seemed to lie in watching avidly Oedipus's reaction as each new horror was revealed to him - pretty ghoulish!
Then it got me thinking - whatever my reactions to plays like Hamlet and Othello and King Lear, I never felt moved to tears no matter how high the stage was piled with bodies by the end. So is it just me, or is the purpose of Tragedy something quite other than making you feel sad?