Book/Play Review: Antigone by Sophocles

Author: Sophocles
Title: Antigone (The Theban Plays #3)
Genre: Fantasy, Classic, Drama, & Play
Pages: ebook
First Published: 441 BC
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Bought a copy at B&N)

The daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Antigone is an unconventional heroine who pits her beliefs against the King of Thebes in a bloody test of wills that leaves few unharmed. Emotions fly as she challenges the king for the right to bury her own brother. Determined but doomed, Antigone shows her inner strength throughout the play.

Antigone raises issues of law and morality that are just as relevant today as they were more than two thousand years ago. 

This is the third part of the Oedipus trilogy. However, Oedipus is dead and now leaves his curse upon all his children. His sons' are fighting each other over the throne which causes both of them to die. Antigone and her sister are left to carry the curse now and deal with. The new King refuses to let them bury the dead. So in perfect tragedy fashion, Antigone says FU and does it anyways, which signs her own death warrant. 

This, honestly, was the best of the three plays. I liked Antigone and her loyalty to her cursed family is beautiful. She loves her dad and mom even though they cursed them. 

I felt bad for Antigone's fiance, because he is in a difficult position. He loves his father (which is the new King) and Antigone defied his father. Poor guy. 

The new King is an idiot. SMH! FOOL! He deserves the curse that was given to him in the end. 

I feel this story was a huge influence over Shakespeare and his works. This felt very Shakespearean even though it come out centuries before Shakespeare was even alive. I'm not sure if good ol' Billy was influence by Sophocles works, but after reading this, I felt like maybe he was. 

This play brings up lots of moral and ethical questions. Which I love when stories make me think!

My only complaint is the chorus parts. Like...I still don't understand who/what they are suppose to represent? Are they ghosts? Or just spectators who happen to be in the room? They don't really do anything to help move the story along in my opinion. 

In the end, this was the best of the three plays, in my opinion. It had a lot going on, but it was done in a way where its easy to know who's who and whats going on. I loved the brief romance and I loved the aspect that this really makes you think. In the end, I will stamp it with 4 stars. 

Book/Play Review: Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles

Author: Sophocles
Title: Oedipus at Colonus (Play 2 in trilogy)
Genre: Classics, Play, Drama, and Fantasy
Pages: 144
First Published: 401BC
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Bought a copy at B&N)

At the center of the play is the mysterious transformation of Oedipus from an old and blind beggar, totally dependent on his daughters, to the man who rises from his seat and, without help, leads everyone to the place where he is destined to die. In the background of this transformation stands the grove of the Furies, the sacred place of the implacable goddesses who pursue the violators of blood relationships. Although Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother, is an obvious target of the Furies' vengeance, he enters their grove at the beginning of the play, sure that it is the resting place Apollo has predicted for him. The reversals and paradoxes in the play speak to the struggle that Oedipus' life and the action of the play bring vividly before us: how do we as humans, subject to constant change, find stable ground on which to stand and define our moral lives? 




This is the second part of the well-known story of Oedipus. This follows the man after he was banished from his kingdom in disgrace and blinded. His one daughter, Antigone, has decided to stay with him and be his eyes. 

Oohhhh the poor man. He is for sure haunted by what the Fates did to him. It was his fault at all, but yet, he is being punished. Poor, poor guy. I also feel bad for his kids. Not his sons, because his sons are A-holes and I’m glad they are now cursed! I’m curious to see how that ends up in the next play. 

I’ll be honest…I had no idea that this was technically a “trilogy”. I thought the story ended with Oedipus running off gouging his own eyes out. However, I guess there is more to the tale than I realized! In many ways, Oedipus does redeem and the Fates give him a break of sorts. He deserved it. A part of me liked this one better than the first part. 

Mhm. I wasn’t a huge fan of the chorus parts. I’m used to choruses having a big role in this story, but it was not done that well in this one. 

Also, this was kinda slow going. True, it was supposed to be just an arch and epilogue. Oedipus’ story is now completed, but the next play will center on his daughter, Antigone. I am curious and I’ll be checking that out soon.

In the end, this was an eh for me. It was interesting to continue the story on the poor man who was tricked by the evil Fates to marry his mom. It was more of an arch that is important to the tale, but still…it is just there. I am curious to see what happens in the next part! I shall stamp this with 3 stars.  It was a hair better than the first part of the story. 

Book/Play Review: Oedipus the King

Author: Sophocles
Title: Oedipus the King/Rex (Oedipus #2)
Genre: Play, classic, adventure, and tragedy
Pages: ebook
First Published: 429 BC
Where I Got It: On my shelf (free download)


"Oedipus Rex chronicles the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of Thebes while in the process unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would murder his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta. The play is an example of a classic tragedy."





Oooooooooh Oedipus I knew I would have to read your story soon. It was a matter of time. Yes, I was forced to read this in my LIT411 class. *Sighs* I've been avoiding this story for a while. It's odd, because I do love classics and I do love tragedies, but I just never wanted to read this for myself. Perhaps it is because we all know how this story ends. It does not end happy, because all the nasty secrets come out...especially if that involves incest. 0.0

Granted, I actually feel kinda bad for Oedipus, because pop culture makes it sound like he purposely killed his dad to get into his mother's panties. No. That is not the case here. It was all stupid accident and fate. I blame the mother and father for this fate happening, because they abandoned their son on a mountain, so they would avoid the "prophecy" of the baby killing the dad and sleeping with the mom. They created their own fates. Sorry. I don't feel bad for the parents. 

Now...Oedipus is not all completely forgivable. He did murder someone and robbed them (it just happened to be his papa that he didn't know was his papa). Granted, he did redeem himself by saving the town and becoming king. He married the widow and had some kids. Okay, whatever....but then he got all high and mighty and wanted to find that blasted murder of the king. People warned him (especially the seer), but he didn't listen and look what happened. He found out the truth and ruined everyone's lives. 

This was an interesting play and I would like to see it actually performed. However, all the characters irked me, especially Mama Queen and the late Father. *shakes my head* They caused this. The only character I liked was Creon, but there is a foreshadow of his own doom later on in the third part of the saga. Power corrupts all.

In the end, this play was better then I expected, but I still not my favorite of classical plays/stories. I'm glad that Oedipus wasn't a weirdo like pop culture makes him out to be (especially Freud), because he doesn't willingly sleep with his mother. HE DID NOT KNOW! Anyways....I would recommend this to those that like the classics and especially love the tragic stories. This is defiantly up there! I shall stamp this with 2 stars. 

Favorite Character(s):  Creon
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Jocasta, Laius, and Oedipus