Plays of Sophocles is a set of three plays by Sophocles, an ancient Greek tragedian whose plays have survived until modern times. Included are Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone.

Disregard for messages from the oracles and gods doesn't turn out well for characters in Greek stories, and Oedipus is no exception. Encompassing murder and betrayal, incest and patricide, this set of three plays follows the life of a man doomed to suffer from birth. Sophocles wrote these classic Greek tragedies in fifth century BCE. This English translation, by F. Storr, was first published in 1912.

Available for the first time as an independent work, David Grene’s legendary translation of Oedipus the King renders Sophocles’ Greek into cogent, vivid, and poetic English for a new generation to savor. Over the years, Grene and Lattimore’s Complete Greek Tragedies have been the preferred choice of millions of readers—for personal libraries, individual study, and classroom use. This new, stand-alone edition of Sophocles’ searing tale of jealousy, rage, and revenge will continue the tradition of the University of Chicago Press’s classic series. Praise for David Grene and Richmond Lattimore’s Complete Greek Tragedies “This is it. No qualifications. Go out and buy it everybody.”—Kenneth Rexroth, Nation “The translations deliberately avoid the highly wrought and affectedly poetic; their idiom is contemporary. . . . They have life and speed and suppleness of phrase.”—Times Education Supplement

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. CliffsNotes on The Oedipus Trilogy is your ticket to a greater understanding of three tragic dramas from Sophocles. Meet the subject of these plays: Oedipus, the banished king of Greek mythology who killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus The King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone are timeless works that continue to captivate audiences even today. This study guide covers all three plays with critical commentaries, summaries, and character analyses—tools designed to open your eyes to the richness of Sophocles' work. Other features that help you study include Life and background of the playwright, Sophocles An introduction to Greek theatre A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters Critical essays on fate and ritual and transcendence in the Oedipus Trilogy A review section that tests your knowledge A Resource Center full of books, films, and Internet sites Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

This book aims to offer a contemporary literary interpretation of the play, including a readable discussion of its underlying historical, religious, moral, social, and mythical issues. Also, it discusses the most recent interpretative scholarship on the play, the main intertextual affiliations with earlier Thebes-related tragedies, especially focusing on Sophocles’ Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannus, and the literature and performance reception of the play; it contains an up-to-date bibliography and detailed indices. The book won the Academy of Athens Great Award for the Best Monograph in Classical Philology for 2008.

The story of King Lear seems to fill in the blank space separating the end of Oedipus Tyrannus and the beginning of Oedipus at Colonus. In both Oedipus at Colonus and the latter part of King Lear we are presented with an old man who was once a King and, following his expulsion from his kingdom on account of a crime or of an error, is turned into a ‘no-thing’. This happens in the time of the division of the kingdom, which is also the time of the genesis of intraspecific conflict and, consequently, of the end of the dynasty. This collection of essays offers a range of perspectives on the many common concerns of these two plays, from the relation between fathers and sons/daughters to madness and wisdom, from sinning and suffering to ‘being’ and ‘non-being’ in human and divine time. It also offers an overarching critical frame that interrogates questions of ‘source’ and ‘reception’, probing into the possible exchangeability of perspectives in a game of mirrors that challenges ideas of origin.

Described as the Mona Lisa of literature and the world's first detective story, Sophocles' Oedipus the King is a major text from the ancient Greek world and an iconic work of world literature. Aristotle's favourite play, lauded by him as the exemplary Athenian tragedy, Oedipus the King has retained its power both on and off the stage. Before Freud's famous interpretation of the play - an appropriation, some might say - Hölderlin and Nietzsche recognised its unique qualities. Its literary worth is undiminished, philosophers revel in its probing into issues of freedom and necessity and Lacan has ensured its vital significance for post-Freudian psychoanalysis. This Reader's Guide begins with Oedipus as a figure from Greek mythology before focusing on fifth-century Athenian tragedy and the meaning of the drama as it develops scene by scene on the stage. The book covers the afterlife of the play in depth and provides a comprehensive guide to further reading for students.

"In this book, Diana Senechal confronts a culture that has come to depend on instant updates and communication at the expense of solitude. Schools today emphasize rapid group work and fragmented activity, not the thoughtful study of complex subjects. The Internet offers contact with others throughout the day and night; we lose the ability to be apart, even in our minds. Yet solitude plays an essential role in literature, education, democracy, relationships, and matters of conscience. Throughout its analyses and argument, the book calls not for drastic changes but for a subtle shift: an attitude that honors solitude without descending into dogma"--Provided by publisher.