Sophocles: Oedipus the King

A New Verse Translation
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-0-19-885483-8
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 128 Seiten, Format (B × H): 139 mm x 200 mm, Gewicht: 245 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kovacs, David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Volkskunde: Sitten, Traditionen, Mythen, Legenden
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Theaterwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Dramen und Dramatiker

Über Autor(innen)

After receiving his doctorate from Harvard University in 1976, David Kovacs joined the classics faculty at the University of Virginia, where he taught Greek and Latin language and literature for forty years.