HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
Loading...

Oedipus Rex (edition 1993)

by Sophocles, William-Alan Landed (Editor)

Series: Oedipus Cycle (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
6,575721,432 (3.69)140
A king tries in vain to avert a horrific fate in this epic tragedy, widely considered a masterpiece. Oedipus was warned that his destiny is for him to kill his father and marry his mother. So he fled his home and has now become the king of Thebes, taking the throne after the death of its previous occupant, Laius, and marrying his widow, Jocasta. But just as Laius long ago labored to defy a prophecy and ultimately failed, so will Oedipus, in this masterpiece by the great tragedian of ancient Greece.… (more)
Member:thehudg1
Title:Oedipus Rex
Authors:Sophocles
Other authors:William-Alan Landed (Editor)
Info:Players Press (1993), Paperback, 48 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****1/2
Tags:None

Work Information

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (Author)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 140 mentions

English (60)  Italian (2)  Catalan (1)  Swedish (1)  Spanish (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  French (1)  Dutch (1)  Norwegian (1)  All languages (69)
Showing 1-5 of 60 (next | show all)
This classic play is an out and out dramatic classic of murder,
incest, self-mutilation and suicide. It is amazing to think that this play was performed nearly 2,500 years ago, five times longer ago than Shakespeare's plays. Put another way, when Jesus was born and lived, this play was as far in the past to people living then as Shakespeare's plays are to us now in 2024. It won second prize in a competition in 429 BC to a play now lost to us written by a nephew of Euripides, one of the other two most prominent Greek tragic writers of the era. What huge influence this and other plays of the era have had on the literature of the past two and a half millennia. ( )
  john257hopper | Mar 3, 2024 |
Really, really funny.
  VidKid369 | Dec 15, 2023 |
It's a classic melodrama, and I'm sure it was great in it's time, but by my modern standards it is written in a terribly unsatisfactory way. Long, long, long build up, to a climax so gaudy it puts eastern soap operas to shame.
( )
  eurydactyl | Jul 20, 2023 |
This translation by F. Storrs was disappointing. My Kindle edition also was missing formating (such as line breaks between different speakers) which made it difficult to read. ( )
  leslie.98 | Jun 27, 2023 |
This is one of those classics that I know about through pop culture but have never actually read. (It’s officially been on my to-read list since 2008, so it took me “only” 15 years to get around to it.) It’s a lot more visceral than I was expecting, even though the famous “Oedipus gouges out his own eyes” scene happens off stage. The way the chorus describes it is stomach-churning, especially for someone like me who is very eye-injury-phobic. I haven’t read very many ancient Greek plays, so I’m still not entirely clear on the role of the chorus; can they be seen by the main actors in the play? Are they part of the story? Or do they come and go? I’ll have to do some more research on this subject. ( )
  rabbitprincess | Feb 23, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 60 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (199 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
SophoclesAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Angèli, PietroTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Boutens, P.C.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Buschor, ErnstTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Campbell, LewisTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Castellanos i Vila, JoanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dawe, R. D.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
De Waele, E.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
De Waele, E.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Engelman, JanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fraenkel, J.M.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Grene, DavidTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Groeneboom, P.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hofmannsthal, Hugo vonTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jebb, Richard ClaverhouseTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Knox, Bernard M.W.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Koolschijn, GerardTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
MANZU', GiacomoIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Murray, GilbertTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Quasimodo , SalvatoreTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rebora , RobertoIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schoorel, WaltherCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Storr, FrancisTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Straat, EvertTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
VALGIMIGLI, ManaraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wilder, ThorntonIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Young, Sir GeorgeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Is contained in

Is retold in

Has the adaptation

Inspired

Has as a commentary on the text

Has as a student's study guide

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Oh my children, the new blood of ancient Thebes,
why are you here?
(Fagles translation)
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
A king tries in vain to avert a horrific fate in this epic tragedy, widely considered a masterpiece. Oedipus was warned that his destiny is for him to kill his father and marry his mother. So he fled his home and has now become the king of Thebes, taking the throne after the death of its previous occupant, Laius, and marrying his widow, Jocasta. But just as Laius long ago labored to defy a prophecy and ultimately failed, so will Oedipus, in this masterpiece by the great tragedian of ancient Greece.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.69)
0.5 1
1 17
1.5 6
2 114
2.5 15
3 391
3.5 47
4 458
4.5 25
5 300

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,498,334 books! | Top bar: Always visible