Sophocles, The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone

As a reader, I tend to be an opponent of neoclassicism, and have historically not been impressed with the original Greek and Roman works I have read, although my experience with the literature has been rather slight, and my views are slowly becoming more charitable. I had encountered the three plays that make up Sophocles’s Oedipus cycle (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone) in high school; the first and last were required, and I read the middle one to get the full story. At the time, I was quite impressed by these works, and now, years later, my appreciation for these incredible plays has only grown. I would opine that one of the greatest tragedies regarding “works now lost” is the fact that only seven plays out of well over one hundred authored by Sophocles survive today.Many people know at least some parts of the Oedipus story, but some summary is called for. Oedipus, the hero-king of Thebes, must unravel a mystery that reveals him to be the murderer of his father and the despoiler of his own mother, a monstrous crime for which his city suffers. Upon realizing that the gods and fate cannot be circumvented, he gouges his eyes out, his mother/wife kills herself, and he goes into exile, leaving his friend Creon as king and guardian of his two young daughters, Antigone and Ismene. In Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus is…at Colonus…in the company of his now-teenage daughters and Theseus, King of Athens. His sons Eteoclês and Polyneicês decide to contest Creon’s rule, and Oedipus finally achieves rest. Antigone, the final play in the series, takes place after the brothers are both dead, Creon is on the throne, and Antigone and Ismene are fully grown. Antigone defies Creon’s law proclaiming Polyneicês a traitor to the city and secretly buries her brother, thereby provoking Creon’s wrath. Creon sentences her to death before reversing his decision, but Antigone does not learn of this in time and kills herself, which leads to the suicide of her suitor Haemon and Creon’s wife Eurydice. And there we have it.The structure of the plays is highly formal and ritualized, as was the practice of the earliest Western theatre. Choral odes punctuate the action, and the action largely occurs offstage and is related by messengers or other witnesses. Throughout the plays, the cantankerous seer Teiresias tells the truth, which is met with varied enthusiasm at various points in the drama. Although the tone is lofty and poetical, “low comedy” is present, as well as a certain dark humor. The Oedipus story certainly achieves catharsis, both as a cycle and individually, which is impressive considered they were not written as a trilogy, and were composed over a roughly forty-year period towards the end of Sophocles’s extraordinarily long life.Although I am not a Classics major like my mother and thus do not have the knowledge required to assess the skill of the translation, I will say that the words are beautiful and the flow is excellent. Hearing a recital or viewing a skilled performance of these plays would be a treat indeed. The translation by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, two of the leading classicists of this century, dates from 1949, but does not feel clunky or dated in the slightest. The diction, while free from slang and excessive colloquialism, is not ‘elevated’ in an artificial or boring sense.The edition is also to be praised. Harcourt, being a major publisher, can be expected to deliver from a publishing perspective, and this is the case. The cover is pleasing, the type is readable, and the back material fails to annoy. The translators have included short commentaries that complement the plays well, plus a helpful index of person and place names. Since this is a “three-in-one” package, the price is not unreasonable.I heartily recommend these plays to any reader, whether Greek literature expert or complete novice in the field. Sophocles was a very gifted writer, and his plays resonate powerfully with a surprisingly diverse audience. I would go so far as to say that if you read nothing else from the Greeks and Romans, you should at least read this dramatic cycle.

This version of Sophocles's Oedipus trilogy--Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone--is a great edition for students and seasoned classicists alike. The translations by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald are modern while still being poetic, and complete while still being very, very fast-paced. For instance, I read Antigone in about forty minutes, and I'm a slow reader.Fitts and Fitzgerald have sacrificed some accuracy and literalness to achieve their extraordinary pacing and readability, but while their translations are not always true to the original text, they more than make up for it with the sheer power which which they grab the reader. I had read Oedipus Rex before, but I had never felt it like this. The plays come alive for the reader. The tragic end of Oedipus Rex was particularly moving.This edition includes some notes and commentary, but the works stand well on their own, without the comments of a later generation. Overall, though, the briskness and modern sound of these plays make this one of the best translations available to students today.Highly recommended.

The Theban plays, or Oedipus trilogy, are some of the oldest tragedies of Western Civilization. Sophocles uses the myth of Oedipus to explore themes of fate, guilt, the relationship of the individual to the state, the morality of the state, and whether or not humans willingly validate fate through their own actions. Of course, there's much more in there that I missed. I will enjoy going back to these plays throughout my life.I read the translation by Fitts and Fitzgerald, and it was fluid, understandable, and dignified. I highly recommend it. I rated this book five stars because it would be foolish for me to do otherwise. One does not simply point out flaws in a work of art that's survived for over two-thousand years. These plays have affected people across time, and any educated person should be familiar with them.

Great book to read in college. The pace was steady, maybe even fast, but the plot can be a bit confusing at times. Overall, it was a good buy based on quality and it arrived on time.

I needed this book for my college course, and it was in really good condition for what I bought it for. Brand new! This book is a must read, its pretty interesting and it wasn't a chore to read, although it was mandatory in my case. If you like these kind of books and subjects, it's a classic.

Its a book that i was forced to buy. Its a good book. Came in good condition

Best translation available: it contains some of the beauty of the original unlike the Barnes and Nobles one and, more importantly, is intelligible unlike the Penguin one.

Great book. Pages are well numbered. My copy did not arrive with that been-sitting-in-the-library-for-5-years smell.

I love the flow in the translation made by Robert Fitzgerald. It's the kind where you wouldn't want to put the book down but read it to its end. I love it. If only Amazon had this in a hardcover format since when I purchased it, there was only the kindle and paperback format. Although the cover is really not that bad in quality. The quantity excels it.