Books with title The Oedipus Plays: " Oedipus the King " , " Oedipus at Colonus "

One of the most famous poets from classical antiquity, Sophocles was one of three important ancient Greek tragedians, the others being Aeschylus and Euripides. Writing during the 5th century BC, Sophocles created some one hundred and twenty three plays during his lifetime, of which only seven have survived in their entirety. In this edition are included the three so-called Theban plays, as translated by Francis Storr, which are widely considered his most important works. These works include "Antigone" the story of its title character, a strong heroine whose complete commitment to familial duty brings her to challenge the will of her king; "Oedipus the King", the legend of Oedipus who is exiled as an infant by his royal father because of a prophesy of patricide and incest; and "Oedipus at Colonus", a drama which finds Oedipus at the end of his life caught between the warring kings of Athens and Thebes who each desire that Oedipus' final resting place be in their respective lands. These classic tragedies are e

The Theban Trilogy consists of Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone - together these tell the tragic story of Oedipus the king of Thebes, and his daughter Antigone. Oedipus the King (in Latin Oedipus Rex) sees the youthful Oedipus consults the Oracle at Delphi, wherein it predicts that he will ""Mate with [his] own mother, and shed/With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire"". Oedipus at Colonus has the elderly Oedipus, by now ostracised and distrusted by society at large for his earlier, unintended wrongdoing. Blind after gouging out his own eyes in reaction to the revelations of the first play, it is his daughter/sister Antigone who escorts him to King Theseus. The final play in the Trilogy is Antigone - this title sees Oedipus offspring navigate the drama of a Civil War in Thebes. All three compositions are superb examples of Greek drama; owing to their revelatory contents and narrative twists, Sophocles' Theban plays remain popular to this day.

BOOK ONE:Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 441 BC. It is the third of the three Theban plays but was the first written, chronologically. The play expands on the Theban legend that predated it and picks up where Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes ends. BOOK TWO Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus , or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC.Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply Oedipus , as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics. It is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from Oedipus at Colonus. In antiquity, the term “tyrant” referred to a ruler, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation. Of his three Theban plays that have survived, and that deal with the story of Oedipus, Oedipus Rex was the second to be written. However, in terms of the chronology of events that the plays describe, it comes first, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. BOOK THREE: Oedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC. In the timeline of the plays, the events of Oedipus at Colonus occur after Oedipus the King and before Antigone; however, it was the last of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be written. The play describes the end of Oedipus' tragic life. Legends differ as to the site of Oedipus' death; Sophocles set the place at Colonus, a village near Athens and also Sophocles' own birthplace, where the blinded Oedipus has come with his daughters Antigone and Ismene as suppliants of the Erinyes and of Theseus, the king of Athens.

Theban plays The Theban plays consist of three plays: Oedipus the King (also called Oedipus Tyrannus or by its Latin title Oedipus Rex), Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. All three plays concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus. They have often been published under a single cover. Sophocles, however, wrote the three plays for separate festival competitions, many years apart. Not only are the Theban plays not a true trilogy (three plays presented as a continuous narrative) but they are not even an intentional series and contain some inconsistencies among them. He also wrote other plays having to do with Thebes, such as the Epigoni, of which only fragments have survived.

Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, Sophocles' The Three Theban Plays are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by Robert Fagles with introductions and notes by Bernard Knox. Collected here are Antigone, Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, in a translation by Robert Fagles which retains all of Sophocles' lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue, his ironic edge, the surge and majesty of his choruses and, above all, the agonies and triumphs of his characters. Oedipus in exile, searching for his identity, desperately trying to avoid his fate, seeking the truth of his origins and achieving immortality; his daughter, Antigone, defending her integrity and ideals to the death - these heroic, tragic figures have captivated theatregoers and readers since the fifth century BC. It is Sophocles' characterisation of Oedipus that would, in the nineteenth century, inspire Sigmund Freud to a revolutionary conception of the human mind, and the tragedies in this volume continue to move and inspire us to this day. Sophocles (496-405 BC) was born at Colonus, just outside Athens. His long life spanned the rise and decline of the Athenian Empire; he was a friend of Pericles, and though not an active politician he held several public offices, both military and civil. The leader of a literary circle and friend of Herodotus, Sophocles wrote over a hundred plays, drawing on a wide and varied range of themes, and winning the City Dionysia eighteen times; though only seven of his tragedies have survived, among them Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Ajax and Oedipus at Colonus. If you enjoyed The Three Theban Plays, you might like Aeschylus' The Oresteia, also available in Penguin Classics. 'I know of no better English version' Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Oxford University 'The most impressive verse translations of Sophocles that have been made' Stephen Spende

Theban plays The Theban plays consist of three plays: Oedipus the King (also called Oedipus Tyrannus or by its Latin title Oedipus Rex), Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. All three plays concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus. They have often been published under a single cover. Sophocles, however, wrote the three plays for separate festival competitions, many years apart. Not only are the Theban plays not a true trilogy (three plays presented as a continuous narrative) but they are not even an intentional series and contain some inconsistencies among them. He also wrote other plays having to do with Thebes, such as the Epigoni, of which only fragments have survived. Subjects Each of the plays relates to the tale of the mythological Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother without knowledge that they were his parents. His family is fated to be doomed for three generations. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the protagonist. Oedipus' infanticide is planned by his parents, Laius and Jocasta, to avert him fulfilling a prophecy; in truth, the servant entrusted with the infanticide passes the infant on through a series of intermediaries to a childless couple, who adopt him not knowing his history. Oedipus eventually learns of the Delphic Oracle's prophecy of him, that he would kill his father and marry his mother; Oedipus attempts to flee his fate without harming his parents (at this point, he does not know that he is adopted). Oedipus meets a man at a crossroads accompanied by servants; Oedipus and the man fought, and Oedipus killed the man. (This man was his father, Laius, not that anyone apart from the gods knew this at the time). He becomes the ruler of Thebes after solving the riddle of the sphinx and in the process, marries the widowed Queen, his mother Jocasta. Thus the stage is set for horror. When the truth comes out, following from another true but confusing prophecy from Delphi, Jocasta commits suicide, Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes, and the children are left to sort out the consequences themselves (which provides the grounds for the later parts of the cycle of plays). In Oedipus at Colonus, the banished Oedipus and his daughter Antigone arrive at the town of Colonus where they encounter Theseus, King of Athens. Oedipus dies and strife begins between his sons Polyneices and Eteocles. In Antigone, the protagonist is Oedipus' daughter, Antigone. She is faced with the choice of allowing her brother Polyneices' body to remain unburied, outside the city walls, exposed to the ravages of wild animals, or to bury him and face death. The king of the land, Creon, has forbidden the burial of Polyneices for he was a traitor to the city. Antigone decides to bury his body and face the consequences of her actions. Creon sentences her to death. Eventually, Creon is convinced to free Antigone from her punishment, but his decision comes too late and Antigone commits suicide. Her suicide triggers the suicide of two others close to King Creon: his son, Haemon, who was to wed Antigone, and his wife, Eurydice, who commits suicide after losing her only surviving son.

The Theban Trilogy is comprised of Sophocles' plays Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone - together these tell the tragic story of Oedipus the king of Thebes, and his daughter Antigone. Oedipus the King (in Latin Oedipus Rex) sees the youthful Oedipus consults the Oracle at Delphi, wherein it tells him he will "Mate with [his] own mother, and shed/With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire". Terrified of this prophecy, he flees those he believes are his biological parents, only to unwittingly encounter - and kill - his biological father, King Laius. This incident sets in motion the events that will see the Delphic prophecy proven terribly correct: Oedipus unwittingly marries Jocasta, his own mother, who bores him four children. Oedipus at Colonus has the elderly Oedipus, by now ostracised and distrusted by society at large for his earlier, unintended wrongdoing. Now blind after gouging out his own eyes in reaction to the revelations of the first play, it is his daughter/sister Antigone who escorts him to King Theseus, with whom he desires to speak prior to death. In the dramatic conclusion leading to the death of Oedipus, the Gods themselves pass judgement upon his terrible sins of patricide and incest. The final play in the Trilogy is Antigone - this title sees Oedipus offspring navigate the drama of a Civil War in Thebes, alternating between verbal engagement and vying with the proud monarch Creon. Portrayed as a heroine, Antigone's steels her resolve in a time of upheaval and tragically destructive infighting between the Theban elite. This celebrated and authoritative translation was composed by the classical scholar F. Storr.

Theban plays The Theban plays consist of three plays: Oedipus the King (also called Oedipus Tyrannus or by its Latin title Oedipus Rex), Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. All three plays concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus. They have often been published under a single cover. Sophocles, however, wrote the three plays for separate festival competitions, many years apart. Not only are the Theban plays not a true trilogy (three plays presented as a continuous narrative) but they are not even an intentional series and contain some inconsistencies among them. He also wrote other plays having to do with Thebes, such as the Epigoni, of which only fragments have survived. Subjects Each of the plays relates to the tale of the mythological Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother without knowledge that they were his parents. His family is fated to be doomed for three generations. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the protagonist. Oedipus' infanticide is planned by his parents, Laius and Jocasta, to avert him fulfilling a prophecy; in truth, the servant entrusted with the infanticide passes the infant on through a series of intermediaries to a childless couple, who adopt him not knowing his history. Oedipus eventually learns of the Delphic Oracle's prophecy of him, that he would kill his father and marry his mother; Oedipus attempts to flee his fate without harming his parents (at this point, he does not know that he is adopted). Oedipus meets a man at a crossroads accompanied by servants; Oedipus and the man fought, and Oedipus killed the man. (This man was his father, Laius, not that anyone apart from the gods knew this at the time). He becomes the ruler of Thebes after solving the riddle of the sphinx and in the process, marries the widowed Queen, his mother Jocasta. Thus the stage is set for horror. When the truth comes out, following from another true but confusing prophecy from Delphi, Jocasta commits suicide, Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes, and the children are left to sort out the consequences themselves (which provides the grounds for the later parts of the cycle of plays). In Oedipus at Colonus, the banished Oedipus and his daughter Antigone arrive at the town of Colonus where they encounter Theseus, King of Athens. Oedipus dies and strife begins between his sons Polyneices and Eteocles. In Antigone, the protagonist is Oedipus' daughter, Antigone. She is faced with the choice of allowing her brother Polyneices' body to remain unburied, outside the city walls, exposed to the ravages of wild animals, or to bury him and face death. The king of the land, Creon, has forbidden the burial of Polyneices for he was a traitor to the city. Antigone decides to bury his body and face the consequences of her actions. Creon sentences her to death. Eventually, Creon is convinced to free Antigone from her punishment, but his decision comes too late and Antigone commits suicide. Her suicide triggers the suicide of two others close to King Creon: his son, Haemon, who was to wed Antigone, and his wife, Eurydice, who commits suicide after losing her only surviving son.