Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by buddhafish
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
4.0
7th book of 2022.
As I'm moving around the (personally) uncharted land of Greek tragedies, I get to Sophocles. I think most people know the story of Oedipus, or can at least guess with general Freud knowledge, but the subsequent two plays in the 'Cycle' were unknown to me plot-wise. Oedipus the King/Oedipus Rex/Oedipus Tyrannus is the first and famous story from Sophocles, where a man attempts to flee the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Spoiler alert: he does not outrun it. The following play presents us with a now blinded Oedipus (he blinds himself in the first) with his daughter Antigone (what a call name), in an open landscape, waiting. It's quite clear that Waiting for Godot is a product of this play. It's the weakest of the three despite the Beckett vibes. Theseus shows up and is benevolent to the blind ex-king, but also some great action-hero dialogue [1]. The final play, moving through them without too many spoilers, shows us the lives of Oedipus' children after his death. As expected from a Greek Tragedy, a lot of people die. They are enjoyable reads and as far as my translation went, smooth ones too. What's interesting is seeing what vices were being portrayed in art this long ago that still ravish us today, and usually one can find quite a few. Here we question how much of our lives are predetermined, or even out of our control, by what comes before us, by the choices our parents make, before we have even been conceived. We do not choose where we are born, who we are born to. Our entire lives have to be carved from the position we find ourselves in.
__________________________________
[1] I make no boasts, but while my life is safe,
You need not fear for yours.
As I'm moving around the (personally) uncharted land of Greek tragedies, I get to Sophocles. I think most people know the story of Oedipus, or can at least guess with general Freud knowledge, but the subsequent two plays in the 'Cycle' were unknown to me plot-wise. Oedipus the King/Oedipus Rex/Oedipus Tyrannus is the first and famous story from Sophocles, where a man attempts to flee the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Spoiler alert: he does not outrun it. The following play presents us with a now blinded Oedipus (he blinds himself in the first) with his daughter Antigone (what a call name), in an open landscape, waiting. It's quite clear that Waiting for Godot is a product of this play. It's the weakest of the three despite the Beckett vibes. Theseus shows up and is benevolent to the blind ex-king, but also some great action-hero dialogue [1]. The final play, moving through them without too many spoilers, shows us the lives of Oedipus' children after his death. As expected from a Greek Tragedy, a lot of people die. They are enjoyable reads and as far as my translation went, smooth ones too. What's interesting is seeing what vices were being portrayed in art this long ago that still ravish us today, and usually one can find quite a few. Here we question how much of our lives are predetermined, or even out of our control, by what comes before us, by the choices our parents make, before we have even been conceived. We do not choose where we are born, who we are born to. Our entire lives have to be carved from the position we find ourselves in.
Our fires, our sacrifices, and our prayers
The gods abominate. How should the birds
Give any other than ill-omened voices,
Gorged with the dregs of blood that man has shed?
Mark this, my son : all men fall into sin.
But sinning, he is not for ever lost
Hapless and helpless, who can make amends
And has not set his face against repentance.
Only a fool is governed by self-will.
—Teiresias
__________________________________
[1] I make no boasts, but while my life is safe,
You need not fear for yours.