Oedipus the King is the best-known play we have from the pen of Sophocles and was recognized as a masterpiece in Aristotle's Poetics, which cites the play more often than any other as an example of how to write tragedy. The principal character is the king of a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, who consults Apollo at Delphi and is told that the plague will end only when those who killed the previous king, Laius, are found and punished. He launches an investigation, in the course of which he learns not only that he is himself the killer, but that Laius was his father and Laius' widow, whom he married, his own mother. As a result of this revelation Oedipus changes from being a respected king and conscientious investigator into a polluted and self-blinded outcast. This volume presents a highly-polished English verse translation of Sophocles' powerful play which renders both the beauty of his language and the horror of the events being dramatized. A detailed introduction and notes clearly elucidate how the plot is constructed and the meaning this construction implies, as well as how Sophocles ably concealed the fact that his characters act in ways which differ from what we expect in real life. It also addresses influential misinterpretations, thereby offering an accessible and authoritative introduction to the play that will be of benefit to a wide range of readers.

Here, for the first time in English, is celebrated French classicist Jacques Jouanna's magisterial account of the life and work of Sophocles. Exhaustive and authoritative, this acclaimed book combines biography and detailed studies of Sophocles' plays, all set in the rich context of classical Greek tragedy and the political, social, religious, and cultural world of Athens's greatest age, the fifth century. Sophocles was the commanding figure of his day. The author of Oedipus Rex and Antigone, he was not only the leading dramatist but also a distinguished politician, military commander, and religious figure. And yet the evidence about his life has, until now, been fragmentary. Reconstructing a lost literary world, Jouanna has finally assembled all the available information, culled from inscriptions, archaeological evidence, and later sources. He also offers a huge range of new interpretations, from his emphasis on the significance of Sophocles' political and military offices (previously often seen as honorary) to his analysis of Sophocles' plays in the mythic and literary context of fifth-century drama. Written for scholars, students, and general readers, this book will interest anyone who wants to know more about Greek drama in general and Sophocles in particular. With an extensive bibliography and useful summaries not only of Sophocles' extant plays but also, uniquely, of the fragments of plays that have been partially lost, it will be a standard reference in classical studies for years to come.

Sir Richard Jebb (1841–1905) was the most celebrated classical scholar in late Victorian Britain: his edition of Sophocles, which remains a classic, brought him a knighthood. Professor of Greek at Cambridge from 1889, and MP for the University from 1891 until his death, Jebb became a national spokesman for the humanities. “Sophocles’ Jebb” charts his career through 275 newly discovered letters, presented here with introductions and full annotation. By allowing Jebb and his contemporaries to speak in their own words, it enables a significant reassessment of a key cultural figure of late Victorian Britain and sheds fresh light on public and academic debate of the time. The volume ends with a new, comprehensive list of Jebb’s publications.

"Following the volume of six fragementary Sophoclean tragedies published in this series in 2006, Alan Sommerstein and Thomas Talboy now present seven more. The volume includes the text and translation of all the surviving fragements (and of a selection of other texts that give us information about these plays), with full commentary and an introduction to each play discussing, among other things, the development of the myth and the likely content of the play so far as it can be reconstructed"--Publisher's description, back cover of vol. 2.

Oedipus Tyrannus by the great tragedian Sophocles is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek literature. The play has always been admired for the tight unity of its plot; every bit of every scene counts towards the dramatic effect. The action is concentrated into a single day in Oedipus' life; his heinous crimes of unwittingly killing his father and marrying his mother all lie long ago in the past, and now, in the action of this one day, there awaits for him only the discovery of the truth. Oedipus is portrayed as a noble king, deeply devoted to his people and they to him. Proud of his earlier defeat of the Sphinx, he is determined to save his city once again, and he unflinchingly pursues the truth of who he is and what he has done, unaware that it will bring him to disaster. The spectators, familiar with Oedipus' story, wait in horrified suspense for that terrible moment of realisation to arrive. And when it does, Oedipus survives it: he takes full responsibility for what he has done, accepts the grief and the pain, and carries on, remaining indomitable to the end. Sophocles gives no answer as to why Oedipus is made to suffer his tragic fate. He simply shows us how human life is; how even a great and good man can be brought to the utmost misery through no fault of his own. The gods may, for no apparent reason, deal out unbelievable suffering, but humankind can survive it. Jenny March's new facing-page translation brings alive the power and complexities of Sophocles' writing, with a substantial introduction and a detailed commentary.