Oedipus Tyrannus Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge

by Segal, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780195133202
• ISBN10: 019513320X
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780195133219
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-12-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details
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Summary

This is a lucid and in-depth literary study of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus(Oedipus Rex)--the most famous Greek tragedy and one of the greatestmasterpieces of world literature. It combines scene-by-scene literary analysiswith an account of the play's historical, intellectual, social, and mythicalbackground. Focusing on a contemporary literary interpretation based on a freshscrutiny of the Greek text, this guide also traces adaptations of the play--fromAristotle on to Freud, Levi-Strauss, Lacan, and the most recent criticism--andshows its central role in shaping the European conception of tragedy and modernnotions of the self. This second edition draws on new approaches to the study ofGreek tragedy, offers an account of recent interpretative scholarship on theplay, and includes an annotated up-to-date bibliography.

Author Biography

Charles Segal is Walter C. Klein Professor of the Classics at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	vi
Preface To the Second Edition	vii
A Note On References and Acknowledgments	ix
Chronology	xi
LITERARY AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Introduction	3	(4)
Historical and Cultural Background	7	(8)
Performance, Theater, and Social Context	15	(9)
The Oedipus Myth and Its Interpretation	24	(25)
Oedipus and the Trials of the Hero	49	(4)
Life's Tragic Shape: Plot, Design, and Destiny	53	(20)
READING OEDIPUS TYRANNUS
The Crisis of the City and the King	73	(15)
Discovery and Reversal	88	(20)
Resolution: Tragic Suffering, Heroic Endurance	108	(15)
Inner Vision and Theatrical Spectacle	123	(8)
``To Look upon the Light for the Last Time'': The Place of Oedipus Tyrannus in Sophocles' Work	131	(13)
Reception, Influence, and Recent Literary Criticism	144	(35)
Selected Bibliography	179	(12)
Index	191