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The Complete Plays
by
Sophocles,
Paul Roche
Here in one volume are the full texts of the seven extant plays of the Greek playwright Sophocles, regarded by the Greeks of his time as a kind of "tragic Homer". This collection includes the revised and updated translations by Paul Roche of the Oedipus cycle, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, as well as all-new translations of Ajax, The Women of Trachis,...more
Paperback, 420 pages
Published
March 1st 2001
by New American Library
(first published January 1st 1879)
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Only seven of the 100 or so plays written by Sophocles have survived intact. Less than 10% of his creative output. It’s a ratio that could drive one to distraction—the odds are long that as great or greater plays as the seven survivors were lost.
Better not to dwell on an unimaginable loss and focus on these seven dramas: Ajax, where the fierce warrior, second only to Achilles, is maddened by a god seeking to stop Ajax from slaying Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus in a rage over a perceived slig...more
Better not to dwell on an unimaginable loss and focus on these seven dramas: Ajax, where the fierce warrior, second only to Achilles, is maddened by a god seeking to stop Ajax from slaying Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus in a rage over a perceived slig...more
Este es otro de los libros que leí en la secundaria. Ahora que lo volví a hojear, me sorprende que nos lo hayan dado en aquel entonces. Con razón me costó trabajo. Son las obras del teatro griego más famosas: Ayax, Electra, Edipo Rey, Edipo en Colono, Antígona, Las Traquinias y Filoctetes. Las más famosas que se han representado son Edipo, Electra, y Antígona. Se supone que através de la tragedia se representaban los sentimientos humanos y habría alguna enseñanza a partir de ahí. Todos los actor...more
Reviewing a body of art that has survived for over 2500 years seems naive in its aim: I mean, wouldn't I be disrespectful of the work's hidden logic, its enduring beauties & tragedies, to ding it with a golfball sized spot of critique? I think so. So, even with a play like The Women of Trakhis—my least favorite of Sophocles's surviving plays—I try to withhold judgement and instead look at the play again. It, like all of the plays, is tragic, melodramatic, pained, ironic, funny, witty, musica...more
I finished this new volume of translations of the seven existing plays by Sophocles last night. I unhesitatingly recommend this new work of the translators, Robert Bagg and James Scully, as they really did an outstanding job of presenting these powerful dramas with lyricism and impact. For your information, I am providing a list of the plays in the collection and the primary translator--
Aias (James Scully)...more
Women of Trakhis (Robert Bagg)
Philoktetes (James Scully)
Elektra (Robert Bagg)
Oedipus the Ki
I just finised reading all of Sophocles plays, except the 116 plays they have not found or have found only in fragments. There is a moral impulse in Sophocles which strikes me as commendable. The first thing I think of when I consider this aspect of his writings is not, "The savage!" but rather of how he, writing thousands of years ago, shared in common with the best of us moral sentiments we commend and recognize as good. There is a timeless good to certain moral acts of mankind. I would even s...more
Antigone by Sophocles
Sophomore English II
I only read the Antigone portion in this compilation.
Antigone was definitely a deep book, about the (short-lived) trials and tribulations of a girl who decides to go against the law in order to follow her beliefs. She does so to save her brother from eternal life as a ghost wandering on Earth (as the Greek beliefs go).
There are many themes involved with this play, some including:
1. In the olden days, no woman would dare speak out and criticize men.
2. So...more
Sophomore English II
I only read the Antigone portion in this compilation.
Antigone was definitely a deep book, about the (short-lived) trials and tribulations of a girl who decides to go against the law in order to follow her beliefs. She does so to save her brother from eternal life as a ghost wandering on Earth (as the Greek beliefs go).
There are many themes involved with this play, some including:
1. In the olden days, no woman would dare speak out and criticize men.
2. So...more
Ces tragédies ont beau être antique, elles n'en ont pour autant pas mal vieilli!
Ce n'est pas le cas de tous les auteurs antiques, mais les pièces de Sophocle sont des lectures très agréables, et très facile d’accès. On y retrouve ses personnages de mythologie dont on a tous entendu parler, sans toujours se souvenir de ce qu'ils ont fait. C'est donc une bonne façon de se remémorer ses faits mythologiques qui font parti de notre patrimoine culturelle, tout en passant un agréable moment de lecture...more
Ce n'est pas le cas de tous les auteurs antiques, mais les pièces de Sophocle sont des lectures très agréables, et très facile d’accès. On y retrouve ses personnages de mythologie dont on a tous entendu parler, sans toujours se souvenir de ce qu'ils ont fait. C'est donc une bonne façon de se remémorer ses faits mythologiques qui font parti de notre patrimoine culturelle, tout en passant un agréable moment de lecture...more
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I gotta tell 'ya, with the right translator, these greek tragedies are actually pretty damn good. Thumbs up for this one.
Although all they are centered around is greek mythology. And too many of the characters are recylcled over and over again from story-to-story and author-to-author.
So they are very well written, but after awhile, not all too much originality.
Although all they are centered around is greek mythology. And too many of the characters are recylcled over and over again from story-to-story and author-to-author.
So they are very well written, but after awhile, not all too much originality.
I don't think most people ever read anything by Sophocles except the Oedipus cycle, or Oedipus Rex and Antigone without Oedipus at Collunus. But I really like these translations of Sophocles' plays, though I'm not sure how true to the original they are some of the words seem a bit to slangy for me to really believe its an authentic translation from ancient Greek.
I haven't read "Oedipus at Colonus" in years, but all three plays are timeless.
I don't believe there is a more human story than "Oedipus Rex." If you haven't felt like Oedipus at Fate's complete and life-shattering mercy, than you certainly will--just wait!
The struggle with one's pride is an eternal struggle. We all want to have complete control over our lives; we all want to feel like we can create our own destinies. Unfortunately Life (a.k.a. the Greek gods) loves to throw curveballs. These p...more
I don't believe there is a more human story than "Oedipus Rex." If you haven't felt like Oedipus at Fate's complete and life-shattering mercy, than you certainly will--just wait!
The struggle with one's pride is an eternal struggle. We all want to have complete control over our lives; we all want to feel like we can create our own destinies. Unfortunately Life (a.k.a. the Greek gods) loves to throw curveballs. These p...more
I've read this book several times and it's always different for me. First time I read Oedipus I was in my teens and it moved me incredibly, but now that I'm in my mid twenties I'm not so shocked anymore and I just wanted to get it over with. I think my favorite tragedy gotta be Ajax, even if it enrages me so much how he was treated by the gods and his fellow warriors.
Certainly a book to be read and reread as time moves on.
Certainly a book to be read and reread as time moves on.
La obra de Edipo Rey, que esta incluida dentro de las Tragedias de Sophocles, es una obra, que desde el inicio se torna un poco confusa, aunque puede ser de que les interese, a mi en lo particular me gustó, pero presenta conflictos en los cuales, la mente humana puede llegar a sufrir, por lo que para formación mental sería bueno que lo leyerais.
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Sophocles (Greek: Σοφοκλής; German editions: Sophokles) was an ancient Greek tragedy playwright. Not many things are known about his life other than that he was wealthy, well educated and wrote about one hundred and twenty three plays (of which few are extant). One of his best known plays is 'Oedipus the King' (Oedipus Rex).
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“You, you'll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused! Too long you looked on the ones you never should have seen, blind to the ones you longed to see, to know! Blind from this hour on! Blind in the darkness-blind!”
—
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Jan 13, 2012 08:02am