Books by Sophocles
“It’s the archetypal prophecy story and rightly considered a great work of literature. The Delphic Oracle tells Oedipus that he will sleep with his own mother and slay his father. Oedipus, desperate to avoid that happening, leaves Corinth, where the couple he thinks are his parents live, and heads for Thebes. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, his real parents, Laius and Jocasta, are the king and queen of Thebes… Spoiler alert, the prediction, despite seeming unlikely, comes true in both respects.” Read more...
Carissa Véliz, Philosopher
“Helen by Euripides is in many ways the most Odysseyean of the tragedies we have, not least because it features Helen as the central character. It’s a complete re-write, which turns Helen into a new version of the Homeric Penelope: she’s the miserable chaste wife, whose beauty brings her harassment from annoyingly, scarily persistent local guy(s), and whose marriage is defined by grief.” Read more...
Emily Wilson, Classicist
“Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus is essentially about a struggle for “power over tomorrow.” Having spent years wandering in disgrace and near to death, Oedipus—whose “griefs exceed / the griefs of all mankind”—arrives on the outskirts of Athens. What follows is a struggle over his remains between Creon, the king of Thebes who replaced Oedipus, and Theseus, king of Athens.” Read more...
David Farrier, Literary Scholar
Interviews where books by Sophocles were recommended
Books on the Deep Future, recommended by David Farrier
What trace of our lives will we leave, and what stories might they tell about us? In Footprints, David Farrier explores how our generation will be remembered in the traces it leaves behind in myths, stories… and the fossil record. Here he talks to Caspar Henderson about books to help reflect on ‘the deep future.’
Slavoj Žižek on His Favourite Plays
The philosopher and cultural critic recently made a foray into drama when he reworked Sophocle’s Antigone—not out of admiration for the original, but to examine the “stupid and morally problematic” character at its heart. Here he selects five plays he admires—but declines to see performed.
The best books on The Odyssey, recommended by Emily Wilson
The Odyssey has been constantly rewritten by centuries of writers, but like so much of Greek myth, it's always already open to revising its own narrative. Emily Wilson, Professor of Classics at the University of Pennsylvania and the first woman to translate the Odyssey into English, recommends the best books to read after (or alongside) the Ancient Greek epic, and offers sage wisdom about both translating ancient epics and why everyone can learn from the Odyssey today.
The best books on Prophecy, recommended by Carissa Véliz
From the oracles of Ancient Greece to contemporary warnings about artificial intelligence, prophecies have always done more than merely forecast events. Oxford philosopher Carissa Véliz, author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, recommends five books that explore prophecy’s power and argues that resisting its lure may be one of the most important intellectual tasks of our time.
