Oedipus Casebook - Reading Sophocles'' Oedipus the King

Who killed Laius? Most readers assume Oedipus did. At the play's end, he stands convicted of murdering his father, marrying his mother, and triggering a deadly plague. Weighing the evidence against him and placing the play in the context of Greek scapegoat rites, this book reopens the Oedipus case and lets readers judge for themselves. It features selections from Walter Burkert, Terry Eagleton, Michel Foucault, René Girard, and other eminent critics as well as a new translation of the play by Wm. Blake Tyrrell and the authoritative Greek text established by H. Lloyd-Jones and N. G. Wilson for Oxford University Press.

About the author

Mark R. Anspach is the author of Vengeance in Reverse: The Tangled Loops of Violence, Myth, and Madness and the editor of Oedipus Unbound: Selected Writings on Rivalry and Desire, by René Girard.

Wm. Blake Tyrrell is Distinguished Professor of Classics at Michigan State University. He is the author of works including The Sacrifice of Socrates: Athens, Plato, Girard and coauthor of Athenian Myths and Institutions: Words in Action.

Summary

Helene Peet Foley calls him “the kind of leader a democracy would both love and desire to ostracize.” The Oedipus Casebook readings weigh the evidence against Oedipus, place the play in the context of Greek scapegoat rites, and explore the origins of tragedy in the festival of Dionysus.

Product details

• Authors: Mark R. Anspach, Mark R. (EDT)/ Tyrrell Anspach
• Assisted by: Mark R Anspach (Editor), Mark R. Anspach (Editor)
• Publisher: Michigan state university pres
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2019
• EAN: 9781611863390
• ISBN: 978-1-61186-339-0
• No. of pages: 473
• Series: Studies in Violence, Mimesis,; Studies in Violence, Mimesis &; Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture; Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Texte: Antike und Mittelalter, Anthologien (nicht Lyrik), DRAMA / Ancient & Classical, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Ancient & Classical, Plays / Drama, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Medieval