Electra; Oedipus at Colonus; Philoctetes

Done with Aeschylus, on to Sophocles! This book contains three of his seven surviving plays along with a partial Satyr-drama and some assorted tantalising fragments. As an added bonus, the editors/translators had actually gone through the process of workshopping and staging the plays themselves, providing some insight into the practicalities of the production and what the authentic experience may have been like.

Elektra is broadly the same story as told in Aeshylus's Libation Bearers and one of the advantages to reading these works chronologically is that the various interpretations can begin to feel like a conversation. Where Aeshylus's Orestian trilogy focuses on extremes coming together in eventual reconciliation, Sophocles' version show more seems to focus more on achieving vengeance and doing "right" regardless of what it might cost you personally. It may once, however, have been part of a trilogy, and any nuance the lost parts of it may have provided are lost along with the plays themselves.

Philoktetes was my favourite of the three. Its easy to empathise with the abandoned and disabled warrior, and Neoptolemus's struggle to reconcile personal ethics with what is socially demanded of him is still relatable today. Odysseus is portrayed more like a villain than a trickster hero here, and the line that stood out to me was his declaration, "I am the whatever man the circumstances demand of me". Again, the conclusion celebrates remaining true to one's own morals despite the cost.

Oedipus at Colonos was the final entry, and presents the famous friend of Freud as an old man, close to death. This was new to me, as my knowledge of this story was pretty much limited to the "killing his father, marrying his mother" elements. Here, he is hard done by, plaything of fate and the gods, who never intended for any of that to happen. There's an amusing scene which feels almost modern, in which one of the elders of Colonos finds a moment to broach the sensitive subject with Oedipus. I doubt it was meant to be played for laughs, but I found it bleakly amusing with its "so you're the guy who...", "I don't want to talk about it!", "But with your mum?", "Ah, stop it!", "And so the daughter with you...?", "Yes, also my sister! Can we stop now?"

The other fragments are interesting, but not really enough to provide more than a fleeting glimpse into what has been lost. All we can do is hope that one day we'll find more pieces to the puzzle. show less