Reviews - The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone

550 reviews for:

The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone

Sophocles

3.87 AVERAGE

just_me_abbey's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

christinahenderson's review against another edition

5.0

slow-paced

itsreirei's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

eely225's review against another edition

5.0

I'm glad I read these after reading The Orestia because they ring so much more human. I felt you could really see Sophocles building on his tradition by using seers in lieu of divine visitation to introduce an element of doubt into the will of the gods instead of having the events completely forecast. Although the seers are not contradicted, you can understand better why the characters would try to.

Additionally, the choral segments reflect directly on the speech and build it instead of being a thing unto themselves, as could sometimes happen with Aeschylus. Each of the three plays has a very human tragedy told in clear terms.

I particularly liked the earthiness of the Meineck and Woodruff translation, though I still am glad I read them in the order of events, not the order of composition, as they structure the plays.