Better apparatus than that of Lloyd-Jones and Wilson 1992 its textual decisions generally are less good, however.ĭawe, R. D. Not a good text even when published, and subsequent manuscripts discoveries have left it even more out of date its translation is excellent, however.ĭawe, R. D. Paris: Société d’édition “Les Belles Lettres”. Texte établi par Alphonse Dain et traduit par Paul Mazon. The commentary Kamerbeek 1967 is not accompanied by a printed text of the play the book is very conservative in its approach to both text and interpretation.ĭain, A. The textual choices of Dawe 1996 are on the whole less reliable Dain 1958 is out of date. Lloyd-Jones 1997 offers a slightly different text, as well as a translation. Where editions without commentaries are concerned, the most commonly used is Lloyd-Jones and Wilson 1992, although its text is far from definitive and contains many decisions that have not found favor.

Jebb 1893 is a classic work Finglass 2017 is (for the moment) up to date Manuwald 2012 is a good for German readers Dawe 2006 can be stimulating, though should be used with care. Editions in this section all contain a commentary explaining the editor’s textual decisions, as well as analyzing the play as a work of dramatic literature. The interpretation of the play, in particular the role of the gods in bringing about the fall of Oedipus, and its fascinating structure, have long fascinated spectators and readers, and provoked debate and disagreement among scholars.Ĭritical editions of this play typically differ from each other in dozens of places, reflecting how much work on the text and language of Sophocles still remains to be done. His search for that cure leads him to begin an investigation that culminates in dreadful discoveries: he inadvertently killed Laius, the former king of Thebes that same Laius was Oedipus’s father and Laius’s widow Jocasta, whom Oedipus married after winning the kingship of the city, was Oedipus’s mother. The play begins with the people of Thebes supplicating their beloved king Oedipus, begging him to find a cure for the plague that is afflicting the city.

Probably first performed around the 430s BCE, it was a popular play in antiquity, frequently mentioned by Aristotle in his Poetics, and the inspiration for other works such as the Oedipus by the Roman dramatist Seneca in the modern period it has often been regarded as the paradigmatic Greek tragedy.

Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus Rex, and Oidipous Tyrannos) is one of seven plays by Sophocles that have survived complete, out of the more than one hundred and twenty that he wrote.

Oedipus the king translation