The Three Theban Plays: Antigone / Oedipus the King / Oedipus at Colonusby Sophocles
Published by Penguin Classics
Classic, play, drama, mythology
The heroic Greek dramas that have moved theatergoers and readers since the fifth century B.C.
Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, the three plays that tell the story of the fated Theban royal family - Antigone, Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus - are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written. Robert Fagles's authoritative and acclaimed translation conveys all of Sophocles's lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue, his ironic edge, the surge and majesty of his choruses and, above all, the agonies and triumphs of his characters.
I love ancient Greece; the history, the mythology, and the literature which combines the myths, legends and history. So I'm slowly reading the Greek classics, and decided to start with the plays that are perhaps the best known.
These three plays by Sophocles has one overlying theme that applies to Greek tragedy: fate is unavoidable. If a prophecy or gods announce your destiny, you cannot outrun or outsmart it. What has been fated will happen, no matter the road you take in order to avoid it. Oedipus's parents tried to avoid their fate by abandoning their son, who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, and Oedipus later tried to avoid the same fate only to fulfill it by his actions. Oedipus the King is all about that, while Oedipus at Colonus shows the consequences and Oedipus's life as blind old man. Antigone is the ending, of what happens to Oedipus's children after his demise.
The plays were good. The flow was just right and the word play phenomenal. It's not a surprise that there are some of the best Greek tragedies! This Penguin Classics edition also had very helpful introduction to each play, which helped to open up the concept of the play and set in the context. I enjoyed reading the introductions as much as I enjoyed the actual plays. Of the three plays, my favourite has to be Antigone. It was intriguing to see the aftermath of the unavoidable fate, how tragic it was, and it gave an interesting insight to Greek burial culture.
Starting with these plays was definitely the right decision for me, because this experience just encourages me to read more ancient Greek plays!
4 of 5 stars
