Sophocle, Tragedies: Tome II: Ajax - Oedipe Roi - Electre [French]

by Sophocles

Book Overview

Les trois pieces reunies dans ce volume, Ajax, OEdipe Roi et Electre remonte a la maturite du poete : ce n'est pas l'une des moindres prouesses de Sophocle, que d'avoir su, a plus de 8O ans, raconter la colere du guerrier Ajax, l'aveuglement du jeune roi dipe ou la vindicte meurtriere d'Electre, et de les avoir rendus immortels. Ajax, outrage de ne pas recevoir en heritage les armes d'Achille, porte son glaive d'abord contre les siens, puis contre lui-meme. Ou le fils de Telamon a echoue, Electre reussit : pour venger le meurtre d'Agamemnon, ainsi que les humiliations sordides que lui fontt subir sa mere et Egisthe, l'amant de cette derniere, Electre pousse son frere au matricide. Enfin l'histoire d'OEdipe est bien connue : Sophocle choisit ici de mettre en scene l'enquete qui mene le roi de la malediction de la cite a la decouverte de son crime, de l'aveuglement intellectuel a la cecite finale. L'ironie du sort veut que Sophocle ne soit que second avec cette piece consideree non seulement comme, avec Antigone, son chef d'oeuvre, mais aussi celui de toute la litterature. Le premier prix echut a un obscur Philocles, parent d'Eschyle. Notre edition presente en un volume les trois pieces. Chacune d'elles est precedee d'une notice introductive qui lui est propre mettant en avant le contexte historique dans lequel la piece fut representee, et fournit une tentative de datation la plus precise possible. Le lien avec les recits mythologiques ou avec les precedentes tragedies, notamment les Choephores d'Eschyle, est analyse en detail tandis que de judicieuses pistes de lecture et un choix d'editions commentees sont proposes au lecteur. Des notes accompagnent la lecture. L'ouvrage est en outre enrichi d'un resume de l'argument de chaque piece.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: French
• ISBN: 225100307X
• ISBN13: 9782251003078
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Les Belles Lettres
• Length: 359 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.9" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

Worth the investment.

If you haven't read anything by Sophocles and want to read him for fun, I'd suggest getting the Fagles translations of the Theban plays, followed by the Sophocles II volume published by University of Chicago. That will get you every complete play we have by him and is a good way to start. However, if you've read one (or even all) of the plays in this volume, know some Greek, and want to go a bit deeper, this is the book you're looking for. The translations in this volume are extremely, almost unusually, literal. While the two most prominent translations (Fagles and Greene) waver from the text at times for poetic value, Lloyd-Jones does nothing of the sort. For the most part, what you see on the left side is as close as it gets in English to the Greek on the right side. This is really helpful for those who know enough Greek to be curious about what Sophocles is up to but not enough to actually read the text in the Greek without a lexicon. I generally see Loeb books as investments, due to their high costs. This is one investment that has paid off for me. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Oedipus the King, Ajax, or Electra (although let's be honest: you probably want this more for Oedipus the King than for the other two plays).

oedipus tyrannus

This play is a fantastic view at what some ancient people in Athens thought about their leader Pericles. I love this play, and can only justify Loeb Classics as the best text. I challenge anyone to read this play and not feel a strange need to wickedly laugh out loud as the story unfolds.

Reading for Enjoyment

I honestly enjoyed reading these plays. Especially the first and third. The translation is easy to read and flows really well. I picked these up to supplement some lines of study that I'm pursuing but ended up enjoying them in their own right and for the purposes natural to them. These are not dusty old dry plays - exactly the opposite - these are vibrant introductions to the ancient greek world. I highly recommend you read these - and I recommend this edition and most especially the wonderful translation.