Author:Sophocles,E. Watling,E. Watling
King Oedipus/Oedipus at Colonus/Antigone
Three towering works of Greek tragedy depicting the inexorable downfall of a doomed royal dynasty
The legends surrounding the house of Thebes inspired Sophocles to create this powerful trilogy about humanity's struggle against fate. King Oedipus is the devastating portrayal of a ruler who brings pestilence to Thebes for crimes he does not realize he has committed and then inflicts a brutal punishment upon himself. Oedipus at Colonus provides a fitting conclusion to the life of the aged and blinded king, while Antigone depicts the fall of the next generation, through the conflict between a young woman ruled by her conscience and a king too confident of his own authority.
Translated with an Introduction by E. F. WATLING
A brilliant and accomplished writer
—— Annie ProulxIntricate and touching... As ambitious as it is intelligent... Reinforces Johnston's right to be considered one of the major figures in Canadian fiction
—— Iain Pears , IndependentJohnston's skill at marrying the political and historical with the personal and a spellbinding sense of place is remarkable
—— New StatesmanJohnston is one of the finest writers on the scene
—— Time OutThere is something new and rare here, a genuinely unsettling wit with a terrible tang of truth
—— Sunday TelegraphHere is a fine Iliad for our times, to be read with great pleasure
—— Philip Howard , The Times