Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus - The Three Theban Plays

These are my favorite of all the Greek tragedies and my favorite plays by Sophocles. This translation is excellent. It captures the poetry and elevated language that ought to go with tragedy. I would definitely recommend reading this one.

This is certain to become the new standard translation of Sophocles' Theban Plays. Slavitt brings with him decades of writing and translation experience to make an excellent new version of these classics. He uses mostly blank verse, which has the stately quality one expects from the Oedipus plays. Slavitt has struck a difficult balance between remaining faithful to the original and translating it for a contemporary audience.

Very little to add to Mr. Bernabo's review except that the translation is modern without being "slangy" and the introduction is excellent and helpful, especially for students not too familiar with Greek tragedy. Highly recommended.

This rating is based only on the following. I have only begun reading the Penguin book (in ebook version). In the space of ten lines of Antigone I noticed three typos. The first speech of Chorus begins with: “G!ory!—great beam of the sun, brightest of all that ever rose on the seven gates of Thebes, you bum through night at last!” Here “G!ory” is given instead of “Glory”, and “bum” instead of “burn”. And a few lines later, Polynices is misspelled as Poinyces. I was so shocked by these errors I went back to the cover to make sure I had actually bought the Penguin version and not some bargain-basement edition.

To anyone who cares for classic theatre, the Theban plays by Sophocles are among the best to be found. And to anyone who reads the classics of Greece or Rome -- regardless of genre -- the translations of Robert Fagles are the absolute best. Here we have the best plays by the best translator. The introduction by Bernard Knox should be of special value for those not terribly familiar with the trilogy, and his notes should be useful for all readers.

The Oedipus Trilogy is considered to be one of the great works of Western literature and with good reason. Works such as this are the origination of playwriting and drama in the Western world. Works such as this are the origination of the term 'Greek tragedy', and rightfully so. It tells the sad tale of Oedipus, a man cursed by fate to fulfill his destiny. Beset by woes and the consequences of his destiny, he is mercifully spared by the gods.

Sophocles deftly illustrates human nature and emotion with this work. A bit heavy handed by modern terms, the Greek chorus provides narration and ongoing commentary as the play progresses.

It's a great work of literature for a reason. Well worth a read.

Was in good condition...a little more notes written in the book than I expected, but all in all a good copy of a school version hardback book... And since it's either insanely expensive or impossible to find hardback versions of this book WITH THE TRANSLATOR E.F. WATLING, this was an extremely good buy!! ((E.F. WATLING IS THE BEST AND MOST ELOQUENT TRANSLATOR OF THE THEBAN PLAYS...HE DOESN'T DUMMY IT DOWN, VERY BEAUTIFULLY TRANSLATED))