Reviews

The Burial at Thebes by Sophocles

santersgrotto's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

evaalice's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jcampbell's review

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Nice modern translation but the pacing felt a little faster to me

noahpowers's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jenni3penny's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

abisam's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

frantear's review

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

ninafcf's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shamfeldt's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

dee9401's review against another edition

4.0

A nicely done translation with an excellent note by Heaney at the end that explained how he worked on this volume. The story is very good and I've been lucky to have see different versions performed live. Sophocles's story still resonates today in how power can be used and abused.

One line of the play that really hit strong was Antigone explaining that her brother would not be upset by her burying her other brother: "The dead aren't going to begrudge the dead" (p. 33).

Heaney writes in his note that "Greek tragedy is as much musical score as it is dramatic script" (p. 79). I would generalize this to all poetry in that the performance of verse (be it play or poetry) is a major component of the work.