Oedipus the King

Sophocles

ISBN 10: 1607755866 ISBN 13: 9781607755869

Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

Oedipus the King is the story of Oedipus, King of Thebes. Abandoned as a young child, Oedipus returns to Thebes, unaware of his heritage and the phrophecy surrounding his birth. The fulfillment of his destiny and of those prophecies results in grave consequences for the royal house of Thebes.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

One of the first and greatest of all Greek tragedies, Harry Lennix stars as Oedipus, the king who unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother.

Includes a Q & A session with translator and director Nicholas Rudall.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:

Spencer Garrett as Shepard and Chorus

Francis Guinan as Messenger and Chorus

Gregory Itzin as Creon and Chorus

Charles Kimbrough as Priest Of Zeus and Chorus

Harry J. Lennix as Oedipus

Rod Mclachlan as Second Messenger and Chorus

Carolyn Seymour as Jocasta

W. Morgan Sheppard as Tiresias

Translated and directed by Nicholas Rudall. Recorded before a live audience at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

About the Author

Sophocles ( 497 BC or 496 BC- 406 BC) was one of the three great ancient Greek tragedians, together with Aeschylus and Euripides. According to the Suda he wrote 123 plays; in the dramatic competitions of the Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one playwright consisted of four plays, three tragedies and a semi-comic satyr play), he won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and placed second in all others he participated in (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 8). His first victory was in 468, although scholars are no longer certain that this was the first time that he competed (Scullion 2002).Only seven of his tragedies have survived complete in the medieval manuscript tradition. The most famous are the three tragedies concerning Oedipus and Antigone: these are often known as the Theban plays or The Oedipus Cycle, although they do not make up a single trilogy. Discoveries of papyri from the late nineteenth century onwards, especially at Oxyrhynchus, have greatly added to our knowledge of Sophocles' works. The most substantial fragment which has so far appeared contains around half of a satyr play, The Tracking Satyrs.Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of Athens in the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica, which today is near the railway station. His birth took place a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, although 497/6 is perhaps most likely (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 7). The ancient life of Sophocles disputes claims that his father, Sophillus, was a carpenter, smith, or swordmaker, asserting rather that he owned slaves who pursued such occupations. The Life goes on to say the young Sophocles won awards in wrestling and music, and was graceful and handsome. He led the chorus of naked boys (paean) at the Athenian celebration of the victory against the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC.Sophocles enjoyed a public profile outside the theatre. In 443/2 he served as one of the Hellenotamiai or treasurers of Athena. The Athenian people elected him as one of the ten generals for 441/0, during which he participated in the crushing of the revolt of Samos. There is some evidence that he was one of the commissioners appointed in 413 BC as a response to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 12-13). Sophocles also served as a priest for a time.Only two of the seven surviving plays have securely dated first performances: Philoctetes (409 BC) and Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC, put on after Sophocles' death by his grandson, also called Sophocles). Of the others, Electra shows stylistic similarities to these two plays, and so is probably late. Ajax, Antigone and The Trachiniae are generally thought to be early, again on grounds of style, with Oedipus the King coming in Sophocles' middle period

About this edition

• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks Ltd
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1607755866
• ISBN 13: 9781607755869
• Binding: Preloaded Digital Audio Player
• Number of pages: 2