Oedipus

             Different translations of Oedipus the King
             Sophocles was one of the great Greek play writes of all time. He wrote many Greek plays, but only seven seemed to survive over 2400 years. One of his most famous plays was part of a trilogy. The reader must have read or viewed the previous play in order to understand the next. However, his trilogy which was out of order, made it much more difficult to understand his plays despite reading all of them. Oedipus the King was part of this famous trilogy, which was also known as Oedipus Rex, and universally known as The Oedipus Tyrannus. It is not understood why this one play has different names, except for the theory to translate it into different languages, which was explained by Pierre Vidal-Naguet, a French professor. The confusion of translating to one's language sprawled the many translations of the play itself. Two example authors that will be discussed in this paper is Gilbert Norwood, M.A., author of Greek Tragedy, and J. Peter Euben, author of The Tragedy of Political The!
             ory. The authors' translation of Oedipus the King will be compared and contrasted to prove how widespread the play is studied.
             The exact date of Sophocles' life span is not certain, neither is when Oedpius the King was written. Gilbert Norwood, however, estimates the play was written about c. 431
             B.C. He has dedicated his life on studying Greek tragedy. Norwood feels Oedipus Tyrannus (as he calls it) is universally considered to be a masterpiece because people all people can identify with the plays' concept. J. Peter Euben agrees with Norwood claiming that all humans are searching for "Who" they really are, as what the plays main theme is. This is explained why it is easy to associate with the play's atmosphere. Some parts of the play are very uncomfortable for one to deal with. The fact that Oedipus ends up marrying his own mother is unsettling for many. For centuries, no one cou...

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Oedipus . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:27, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/68303.html