Dian Classical Texts: Greek Tragedy

7 total works

Antigone

by Sophocles

Published December 1902

A muscular version of Sophocles' timeless masterpiece, offering a profound reflection on the nature of power, democracy and human rights.

The war has ended, but with peace comes conflict. Antigone's brother Polyneices lies on the battlefield where he fell, his burial outlawed by Creon, the new king of Thebes. Should Antigone obey Creon, or must she follow her conscience and lay her beloved brother to rest?

Philoctetes

by Sophocles

Published 2 June 1969

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. Under the general editorship of Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro, each volume includes a critical introduction, commentary on the text,
full stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical and geographical references in the play.
En route to fight the Trojan War, the Greek army has abandoned Philoctetes, after the smell of his festering wound made it unbearable to keep him on ship. Ten years later, an oracle makes it clear that the war cannot be won without the assistance of Philoctetes and his famous bow, inherited from Hercules himself. Philoctetes focuses on the attempt of the heroes Odysseus and Neoptolemus to persuade the bowman to sail with them to Troy. First, though, they must assuage his bitterness
over having been abandoned, then win his trust. But how should they do this-through trickery, or with the truth? To what extent do the ends justify the means? To what degree should private interest be compromised for the sake of public duty? These are among the questions that Sophocles puts forward in this, one
of his most morally complex and penetrating plays.

Oedipus Rex

by Sophocles, E H Plumptre, and William-Alan Landes

Published December 1911

This edition of Oedipus Tyrannus is abridged from the full edition and differs mainly in the omission of an English translation. It contains an introduction, the Greek text and commentary in English. The full editions of all the plays, including Oedipus Tyrannus, are also available from Bristol Classical Press.

Electra

by Sophocles

Published 1 January 1920

A Queen masterminds the murder of her Husband and takes the throne with her new lover. Her Daughter, Electra, grows up in the grip of a cruel regime, swearing revenge. Her Son Orestes, exiled as a boy and raised in the arms of the rebels, waits to embark on a holy mission to reclaim his country.

Two decades later a twist of fate brings Brother and Sister together; united by hate but divided by faith. With the country on the brink of civil war, the most powerful family in the Kingdom are torn apart from the inside as their dark past once again becomes the present.

The revolution will be televised, but are The Gods watching?

DumbWise reinvent the murderous Greek myth of power and prophecy as a lyrical modern epic with a live punk-rock score.

Women of Trachis

by Sophocles

Published January 1969

Oedipus Coloneus

by Sophocles

Published December 1903

This is one of the seven plays of Sophocles in the full editions by R.C. Jebb, all of which will be reissued under the BCP imprint. They have occasionally been reprinted but never before in affordable paperback versions. In this set, each volume contains a foreword by P.E. Easterling, concerned with Jebb and his contribution to Sophoclean scholarship; there follows an introduction by a noted Sophoclean scholar dealing with Jebb's treatment of the individual play and its value for - and contrast with - subsequent interpretations, for which a select bibliography is included.

Ajax

by Sophocles

Published December 1963

Sophocles' Ajax is one of the most disturbing and powerful
surviving ancient tragedies. But it is also difficult to understand and
interpret. What are we to make of its protagonist's extremism? Does Ajax
deserve the isolation and divine punishment he experiences? Why is his
state of mind so difficult to determine? Dr Hesk offers answers to these
and many other questions by drawing together the very latest critical
work on the play and introducing the reader to key frames for its
interpretation, including Sophoclean heroism, language and form; Homeric
intertextuality and Athens' 'masculinist' culture, and the
twentieth-century reception of Ajax.