From Library Journal:
This is not really a translation but, as Spender calls it, a "version" of Sophocles's three Theban plays. These disparate plays, composed over 40 years, are rendered here as if a trilogy. One wonders to what purpose: ostensibly so that they may be performed in a single evening. Such conflation results in inevitable contradictions, which Spender seeks to exploit rather than suppress. But do necessary cuts and transpositions revive the Theban story? If each play suffers, Sophoclean themes and symbols are perhaps highlighted: humans as measurers and measured; blindness and sight; family versus city. The answer finally lies in the poetry. Written to be spoken, Spender's dialogue has vigor but his odes soften metaphors drastically, prettifying Sophocles. Stephen Scully, Classical Studies Dept., Boston Univ.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRandom House
- Publication date1987
- ISBN 10 0394544838
- ISBN 13 9780394544830
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages199
-
Rating