Sophocles (496-406 BC) was one of the three great tragic playwrights of ancient Greece; he wrote 123 plays during a career of 60 years and was still writing at the age of 90. Only seven tragedies survive, of which the most famous is Oedipus Rex.

Writes: Plays: 21st Century, Plays: Classical, Guides to Plays for Secondary and FE Level, Editions of Ancient Texts, Ancient Drama, Ancient Greek Literature, Plays: 20th Century, Greek

Author of : Antigone, Electra, Sophocles Plays: 1, Thebes, Oedipus the King, Sophocles: Plays: Ajax, Sophocles: Plays: Electra, Sophocles: Plays: Antigone, Sophocles: Plays: Trachiniae, Sophocles: Plays: Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles: Plays: Philoctetes, Sophocles: Plays: Oedipus Coloneus, Philoctetes, The Oedipus Plays, Sophocles: Ajax, Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles Plays 2

Angie Varakis

Writes: Plays: Classical, Guides to Plays for Secondary and FE Level

Introduction of: Oedipus the King

Editor(s) of: Antigone, Oedipus the King

Antigone, defying her uncle Creon's decree that her brother should remain unburied, challenges the morality of man's law overruling the laws of the gods. The clash between her and Creon with its tragic consequences have inspired continual reinterpretation. This translation by Don Taylor, accurate yet poetic, was made for a BBC TV production of the Theban Plays in 1986, which he directed.