Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy Sophocles' The Three Theban Plays are among the most
enduring and timeless dramas ever written. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by
Robert Fagles with introductions and notes by Bernard Knox. Collected here are Antigone
Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus in a translation by Robert Fagles which retains all
of Sophocles' lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue his ironic edge the
surge and majesty of his choruses and above all the agonies and triumphs of his characters.
Oedipus in exile searching for his identity desperately trying to avoid his fate seeking the
truth of his origins and achieving immortality his daughter Antigone defending her integrity
and ideals to the death - these heroic tragic figures have captivated theatregoers and readers
since the fifth century BC. It is Sophocles' characterisation of Oedipus that would in the
nineteenth century inspire Sigmund Freud to a revolutionary conception of the human mind and
the tragedies in this volume continue to move and inspire us to this day. Sophocles (496-405
BC) was born at Colonus just outside Athens. His long life spanned the rise and decline of the
Athenian Empire he was a friend of Pericles and though not an active politician he held
several public offices both military and civil. The leader of a literary circle and friend of
Herodotus Sophocles wrote over a hundred plays drawing on a wide and varied range of themes
and winning the City Dionysia eighteen times though only seven of his tragedies have survived
among them Antigone Oedipus Rex Ajax and Oedipus at Colonus . If you enjoyed The Three
Theban Plays you might like Aeschylus' The Oresteia also available in Penguin Classics. 'I
know of no better English version' Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones Oxford University 'The most
impressive verse translations of Sophocles that have been made' Stephen Spender
