Ebook177 pages1 hour
Oedipus at Kolonos: A New Translation
By Sophocles
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
Among the most celebrated plays of ancient Athens, Oedipus at Kolonos is one of seven surviving dramas by the great Greek playwright, Sophocles, now available from Harper Perennial in a vivid and dynamic new translation by award-winning poet Robert Bagg. Oedipus at Kolonos continues the story of Thebes’s tragic, now-blinded hero in the last days of his life, as he attempts to answer for his shocking crimes of incest and patricide, and seeks forgiveness before his impending death. This is Sophocles, vibrant and alive, for a new generation.
Author
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than or contemporary with those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.
Read more from Sophocles
Yale Required Reading - Collected Works (Vol. 1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Aias Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles' Antigone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOedipus Rex Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Elektra: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philoktetes: A New Translation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Theban Plays: "Oedipus the Tyrant"; "Oedipus at Colonus"; "Antigone" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAjax Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFive Great Greek Tragedies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Yale Classics (Vol. 1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra and Other Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAias: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ajax Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Oedipus at Kolonos
Related ebooks
Women of Trakhis: A New Translation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Antigone: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elektra: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philoktetes: A New Translation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Aias: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lysistrata Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAntigone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trojan Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Impostures of Scapin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Busie Body Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOedipus at Colonus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hecuba Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lysistrata: A Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brand by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAntigone: A Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Study Guide for Aristophanes's "Lysistrata" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cherry Orchard: Full Text and Introduction (NHB Drama Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomegrown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (Modern Library Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPericles Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Study Guide for Sophie Treadwell's "Machinal" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIphigenia at Aulis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChikamatsu: Five Late Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgamemnon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Riders to the Sea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBallad of Yachiyo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dutch Lover: "There is no sinner like a young saint." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Comedy of Errors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Performing Arts For You
Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Macbeth (new classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet, with line numbers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Midsummer Night's Dream, with line numbers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Me: An Oprah's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Star Wars: Book of Lists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStoryworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Dolls House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Oedipus at Kolonos
Rating: 3.467741952688172 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
186 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This play is not as interesting as the others in the Oedipus cycle. It concerns the period immediately preceding Antigone, and is very talky, with many of the long speeches adding little to the information or entertainment value. The play would be a total wash for anyone not familiar with Oedipus the King or the myth in general; though it does discuss the tragedy, it doesn't fulfill expectations in any way. Primarily interesting as a piece of theatrical history.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A straightforward romp, the second in The Oedipus Cycle, detailing the journey-- both internal and external, that Oedipus makes. It was entertaining and there were many good passages and lines to behold. Nevertheless, it came off as a little basic but that might be part of its charm.3 stars!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fall 2018, Teacher Read:
My Seniors are doing Oedipus, and my Sophomores are doing Antigone, and it seemed fitting that I should read the whole Theban Trilogy again since my daily life is half-immersed within it currently. I, honestly, couldn't remember if I had to read this one in college or not.
I know I didn't read it before then, and so I decided to read the middle play this year. As Oedipus falls, Theseus and Oedipus's son rise, while his daughters take a slowly greater role. I can't help laughing a little that Oedipus' death is off screen and basically a 'miracle we can not speak of.' - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Many incredible moments and speeches in this play - not at least the last final "farewell" from Oedipus
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is Sophocles' last written play, though the second in his Theban plays sequence. It chronicles Oedipus and Antigone's exile, though it is very heavy on chorus and monologue. I found it interesting as a set of ideas, but not so much as a play.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I understand that this trilogy is a classic, and has stood for over two thousand years. There are some real questions proposed by Oedipus and Theseus that are worth thinking about. However, Sophocles' work seems to ramble on - carried by frequent dialogue from 'the Chorus.' This reduces the effectiveness of the message, and makes it hard to follow in general. A reliance upon the mass protestations of the public (the Chorus) seems like an easy way to push plot along without developing characters, in my opinion.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This play is not as interesting as the others in the Oedipus cycle. It concerns the period immediately preceding Antigone, and is very talky, with many of the long speeches adding little to the information or entertainment value. The play would be a total wash for anyone not familiar with Oedipus the King or the myth in general; though it does discuss the tragedy, it doesn't fulfill expectations in any way. Primarily interesting as a piece of theatrical history.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Perhaps 3½ stars for the play but not in this translation. Storrs translated the ancient Greek as if he was trying to write like an Elizabethan. I have enough trouble understanding the Elizabethans when their native tongue was English!I don't think that this play is as good (strong, powerful) as the other two Oedipus plays. However, this middle play of Sophocles' trilogy provides an important bridge between the more powerful first (Oedipus Rex) and last (Antigone) plays. It concludes the action of Oedipus Rex and sets the scene for the action in Antigone. Those two can of course stand on their own, but this play does flesh out the overarching story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As enchanting and vivid as Oidipous Tyrannos and I'm tempted to say I like it even better if only because it ends with a vision of peace, or at least of Oedipus finding peace while all around him slides into war. I was impressed with his little rationalizations over the years--he has learned the humility of the outcast, and yet he's still gone from seeing how his parricide at the crossroads was a result of hubris to telling himself it was self-defence so long he believes it. I liked how Creon's arc went from superficially principled at the start of the first play, organically, to bad dude by the end of this one. And the sweetness of the daughters that had barely known a time when their father wasn't a monster, that had just known no other way to love him, as compared to the sons who never got over losing dickhead dad to sick humiliation and turned into bastards themselves. There are a lot of great character arcs that emerge across the two plays that wouldn't be evident from this one alone--Theseus's being the only exception, although he's good too; I'm not sure quite how the play made him seem legit wise and not some instructive cardboard of the good hero king--and that's why it's such a shame that they're separate works, each less than the whole of which they make up the parts. The Aristotelian unities seem increasingly unmotivated, arbitrary, artificial.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is the second (in logical order) play in the Oedipus trilogy (actually, each play stands by itself) about a doomed family. This play is much about the journey through life and its end. The Oxford Press edition is a highly readable translation with helpful notes and glossary.
Book preview
Oedipus at Kolonos - Sophocles
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1