Review (PDF) The Theban Plays: King Oedipus; Oedipus At Colonus; Antigone (Penguin Classics)
‘O Light! May I never look on you again, Revealed as I am, sinful in my begetting, Sinful in marriage, sinful in shedding of blood!’ The legends surrounding the royal house of Thebes inspired Sophocles (496–406 BC) to create a powerful trilogy of mankind’s struggle against fate. King Oedipus tells of a man who brings pestilence to Thebes for crimes he does not realise he has committed, and then inflicts a brutal punishment upon himself. With profound insights into the human condition, it is a devastating portrayal of a ruler brought down by his own oath. Oedipus at Colonus provides a fitting conclusion to the life of the aged and blinded king, while Antigone depicts the fall of the next generation, through the conflict between a young woman ruled by her conscience and a king too confident in his own authority.E. F. Watling’s masterful translation is accompanied by an introduction, which examines the central themes of the plays, the role of the Chorus, and the traditions and staging of Greek tragedy.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Series: Penguin Classics
Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (June 30, 1950)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140440038
ISBN-13: 978-0140440034
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 7.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #86,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #49 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Dramas & Plays > Ancient & Classical
This small book contains three undisputable top masterpieces of world literature (written some 2500 years ago!) in a brilliant translation with an excellent introduction by E.F. Watling. Their author, Sophocles, draws through the ordeal of the House of Thebes a dark picture of man with Oedipus as a pars pro toto.Oedipus as a pars pro toto (for mankind)The chorus in `Oedipus King' proclaims: `Here is Oedipus, here is the reason why I will call no mortal creature happy.' Why? Oedipus: `I will know who I am. I cannot leave the truth unknown.'And the truth is that Oedipus is innocent: `if any father was foredoomed by the voice of heaven to die by his own son's hand, how can you justly cast it against me, who was still unborn when that decree was spoken?' (Oedipus in Colonus)But, for man `so strong is Destiny, no wealth, no armory, no tower, no ship that rides the angry sea her masterly hand can stay.' (Antigone)Man's lifeThe chorus in `Antigone' proclaims: `Wonders are many on earth, and the greatest of these is man; he is master of ageless earth; he is lord of all the things living. O wondrous subtlety of man, that draws to good and evil.'But, man is cursed by Fate; he is a defenseless plaything in the hands of `Fortune' and `Time': `For mortals greatly to live is greatly to suffer.' (Antigone), and. `Time, time, my friend makes havoc everywhere; he is invincible. The sap of earth dries up, flesh dies.' (Oedipus in Colonus)Only fortune determines man's fate: `Chance raises a man to the heights, chance casts him down, and none can foretell what will be from what it is.' (Antigone), and, `yesterday my mourning of light, now my night of endless darkness.
The Three Theban Plays: Antigone - Oedipus the King - Oedipus at Colonus (Theban Plays of Sophocles - Antigone - Oedipus the King - Oedipus at Colonus) The Theban Plays: King Oedipus; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone (Penguin Classics) The Three Theban Plays: Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus & other Bonus works The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone The Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (Dover Thrift Editions) The Theban Plays: "Oedipus the Tyrant"; "Oedipus at Colonus"; "Antigone" (Agora Editions) The Oedipus Plays: Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus SparkNotes Literature Guide (SparkNotes Literature Guide Series) Sophocles, The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone Sophocles I: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus (The Complete Greek Tragedies) The Complete Works of Sophocles: Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus the King, Philoctetes, Trachiniae (7 Books With Active Table of Contents) Sophocles I: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus (The Complete Greek Tragedies Book 1) Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra (Oxford World's Classics) Greek Tragedies 1: Aeschylus: Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound; Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Antigone; Euripides: Hippolytus Greek Tragedies, Vol. 1: Agamemnon/Prometheus Bound/Oedipus the King/Antigone/Hippolytus Theban Plays (Hackett Classics) The Penguin Arthur Miller: Collected Plays (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Oedipus the King (Enriched Classics) Oedipus the King (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) King Oedipus The Witches Alphabet: How to Write Theban for Beginner’s
