The Theban Plays: "Oedipus the Tyrant"; "Oedipus at Colonus"; "Antigone"

by Sophocles, Peter J. Ahrensdorf (Translator), Thomas L. Pangle (Translator)

Overview

The timeless Theban tragedies of Sophocles—Oedipus the Tyrant, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone—have fascinated and moved audiences and readers across the ages with their haunting plots and their unforgettable heroes and heroines. Now, following the best texts faithfully, and translating the key moral, religious, and political terminology of the plays accurately and consistently, Peter J. Ahrensdorf and Thomas L. Pangle allow contemporary readers to study the most literally exact reproductions of precisely what Sophocles wrote, rendered in readily comprehensible English.These translations enable readers to engage the Theban plays of Sophocles in their full, authentic complexity, and to study with precision the plays’ profound and enduring human questions. In the preface, notes to the plays, and introductions, Ahrensdorf and Pangle supply critical historical, mythic, and linguistic background information, and highlight the moral, religious, political, philosophic, and psychological questions at the heart of each of the plays. Even readers unfamiliar with Greek drama will find what they need to experience, reflect on, and enjoy these towering works of classical literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801452017
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2014
Series:	Agora Editions
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter J. Ahrensdorf is James Sprunt Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Professor of Classics at Davidson College. He is the author of Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue: Creating the Foundations of Classical Civilization, Greek Tragedy and Political Philosophy: Rationalism and Religion in Sophocles' Theban Plays, and The Death of Socrates and the Life of Philosophy: An Interpretation of Platos Phaedo.Thomas L. Pangle is Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies in the Department of Government and Co-Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of many books, most recently Aristotle's Teaching in The Politics, and editor of books including The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues, also from Cornell. Ahrensdorf and Pangle are coauthors of Justice among Nations: On the Moral Basis of Power and Peace.

Table of Contents

Translators' PrefaceIntroduction to Oedipus the TyrantOedipus the TyrantIntroduction to Oedipus at ColonusOedipus at ColonusIntroduction to AntigoneAntigone

What People are Saying About This

Robert C. Bartlett

Peter J. Ahrensdorf and Thomas L. Pangle make a very persuasive case that there remains a need for literal translations of the Theban Plays that render clearly and consistently all key terms in nonarchaic English. These translations combine a remarkable fidelity to the originals with a readable style that is also quite powerful and even moving.

Leslie Rubin

These excellent translations will serve a useful purpose in the classroom in the hands of serious students of the profound relationship between literary wisdom and ethical-political thought.

Editorial Reviews

In emphasizing the political elements of the plays, Professors Ahrensdorf and Pangle spur their readers — our students — to engage deeply with Sophocles' masterpieces....Their incisive reflections interrogate the texts in original and thought-provoking ways, particularly in regard to their political elements. Even where we disagree with them, their ideas merit serious consideration.... The translators situate Oedipus the Tyrant in its political context and ask probing questions about the nature of tyranny, guilt, and knowingness.... The introductions to Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone are similarly rich in ideas. Alternately considering matters of justice, allegiance and political legitimacy, Ahrensdorf and Pangle mine themes of timeless interest and application. In Antigone, they question Creon’s injunction to obey — son to father, young to old, ruled to ruler — and his admonition that there is no greater evil than anarchy. In these two principles, one finds the root of arguments, both ancient and contemporary,over the nature of political legitimacy and stability.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review - Michael Fontaine and Richard Fontaine

"In emphasizing the political elements of the plays, Professors Ahrensdorf and Pangle spur their readers — our students — to engage deeply with Sophocles' masterpieces. . . .Their incisive reflections interrogate the texts in original and thought-provoking ways, particularly in regard to their political elements. Even where we disagree with them, their ideas merit serious consideration. . . . The translators situate Oedipus the Tyrant in its political context and ask probing questions about the nature of tyranny, guilt, and knowingness. . . . The introductions to Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone are similarly rich in ideas. Alternately considering matters of justice, allegiance and political legitimacy, Ahrensdorf and Pangle mine themes of timeless interest and application. In Antigone, they question Creon’s injunction to obey — son to father, young to old, ruled to ruler — and his admonition that "there is no greater evil than anarchy." In these two principles, one finds the root of arguments, both ancient and contemporary,over the nature of political legitimacy and stability."—Michael Fontaine and Richard Fontaine, Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2014.10.44)

"Peter J. Ahrensdorf and Thomas L. Pangle make a very persuasive case that there remains a need for literal translations of the Theban Plays that render clearly and consistently all key terms in nonarchaic English. These translations combine a remarkable fidelity to the originals with a readable style that is also quite powerful and even moving."—Robert C. Bartlett, Behrakis Professor of Hellenic Political Studies, Boston College, editor and translator of The Shorter Socratic Writings and translator of “Protagoras” and “Meno”

"These excellent translations will serve a useful purpose in the classroom in the hands of serious students of the profound relationship between literary wisdom and ethical-political thought."—Leslie Rubin, Duquesne University, editor of Justice v. Law in Greek Political Thought

From the Publisher