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Sophocles' great masterpiece,
Oedipus the King, is here translated into highly-polished English verse alongside an introduction and notes to the translation which seek to make his achievements in both plot and language accessible to students at graduate, undergraduate, and secondary school level.
List of contents
- Introduction
- 1. Sophocles and the great age of Athenian tragedy
- 1a. What we know of Sophocles' life
- 1b. How to avoid turning Sophocles into the wrong kind of classic
- 2. The conditions of tragic performance in the fifth century BC
- 3. The divine dimension: on not misunderstanding Sophocles' Oedipus the King
- 3a. The role of Apollo in what happens before the play opens
- 3b. Apollo at work within the play
- 3c. Some general considerations in favour of an active Apollo
- 3d. How much pure coincidence is there in Oedipus the Kinga
- 3e. What was Apollo's reason for ruining Oedipusa
- 3f. Justifying the ways of God to man
- 4. A further source of confusion: Sophocles' manipulation of the plot
- 5. The ending
- 5a. The scene with the daughters
- 5b. Why is Oedipus made to re-enter the palacea
- 6. The translation: its aims and methods
- 7. The Greek text: departures from Lloyd-Jones and Wilson, Sophoclis Fabulae (second impression, Oxford 1992)
- Works cited
- OEDIPUS THE KING, a verse translation
- Notes to the translation
- Endmatter
- Suggestions for further reading
- Index
About the author
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.
Summary
Sophocles' great masterpiece, Oedipus the King, is here translated into highly-polished English verse alongside an introduction and notes to the translation which seek to make his achievements in both plot and language accessible to students at graduate, undergraduate, and secondary school level.
Additional text
Kovacs' lively verse translation, with introduction and notes, of this seminal play, will be of value to students and lay readers alike.
