Oedipus Tyrannus (Hackett Publishing Co.)

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Summary: The most read and misread of the ancient Greek tragedies
Review: "Oedipus Tyrannus" ("Oedipus the King") is not only the most read of all the Greek tragedies, it is also the most misread of the Greek dramas. The play's reputation exists in part because it was presented as the paragon of the dramatic form by Aristotle in his "Poetics," and it may well be because of that fact that "Oedipus Tryannus" was one of the relatively few plays by Sophocles to be passed down from ancient times. When I have taught Greek tragedies in various classes students have reconsidered the play in terms of key concepts such as harmartia ("tragic error of judgment"), angonrisis ("recognition"), peripeteia ("reversal"), catharsis, etc., and they usually agree this play provides the proverbial textbook examples of these terms.

However, I was always bothered by the fact that Sophocles engages in some rather heavy-handed foreshadowing regarding the fact that the play's tragic hero is going to blind himself before the conclusion. The lines were closer to, dare I say, sophomoric humor than eloquently setting up the climax. But then I read something very, very interesting in Homer's "Iliad," where there appears a single reference to Oedipus which suggests that he died in battle. Remember now that Homer's epics were written several hundred years before Sophocles was born and that the Greek playwrights were allowed to take great liberties with the various myths (consider the three different versions of the death of Clytemnestra at the hands of Orestes we have from Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus). The Athenian audience would know its Homer, but "Oedipus Tyrannus" was a new play.

This leads me to advance a very interesting possibility: the Greek audience did not know that Oedipus was going to blind himself. This was a new idea. Jocasta (Iocasta) appears in the "Odyssey" when Odysseus visits Hades, but the only mention of the sin involved is in her marriage to her son, nothing about his being blind. Obviously you will have to make your own judgment about my hypotheses, but I have to think it is at least worth consideration. Still, there is the fact that because even those who do not know the play know the story about the man who killed his father and married his mother, "Oedipus Tyrannus" is usually misread by students. Because they know the curse they miss something very important: the curse that the oracle at Delphi tells Oedipus is not the same curse that was told to his parents (you can, to quote Casey Stengel, "look it up"). As in his play "Antigone," where the main character is not the title figure but Creon, Sophocles makes Jocasta more than a mere supporting character in this tragedy.

Consequently, while there is no need for me to convince you that "Oedipus Tyrannus" is a great play and the epitome of Greek tragedy, I have hopefully given you a couple of things to consider when next you use this play in class. P.S. You can also play the cherubs Tom Lehrer's song for the movie version of "Oedipus The King." That will broaden their horizons in a totally unexpected direction

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Summary: Oedipus Tyrannus - Power and Clarity for a Modern Audience
Review: I first stumbled across this edition whilst searching the web for an acting edition of Oedipus to use with my Year Eleven Drama class. Once I received this edition I was so pleased that I had taken the gamble to purchase it.

For anyone searching for an 'acting' rather than 'literary' edition of Oedipus, I would strongly suggest that you have a close look at this publication. Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff's collaboration makes the tragedy of Oedipus very accessible for a modern audience. This publication contains an Introduction with explanations of the history of Greek theatre, the nature of tragedy, the function of the chorus, and an analysis of the plot and characterisation. This edition also comes with foot-of-the-page notes and stage directions which are valuable when studying Oedipus as Drama.

What I particularly liked about this publication was its readability, without being simplistic. This translation was characterised by clarity, accuracy, and power of language, retaining the emotion of the original text. I have been so impressed with this translation that I am seriously considering purchasing a class set to use with my students.

It was a pleasure to see a copy of Oedipus especially developed for the stage rather than the page.