Good day. I hope this finds you well.
Due to some circumstances, I won’t be starting on Sophocles until Sunday, April 16. I’ll still start with Antigone. In the meantime, I’ve been preparing my third book which compiles my posts on the plays of Aeschylus (edited, of course, with an Afterword summing up my thoughts). I don’t have a title for it yet.
Here’s what to look forward to regarding Sophocles:
Antigone — The first of the Theban Plays. Antigone’s story was touched on briefly in Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes. I believe this is Sophocles’ best play. It takes place after the events of Seven Against Thebes and the other two Theban Plays.
Oedipus Rex — The second of the Theban Plays. This is Sophocles’ most infamous play. It takes place toward the end of Oedipus’ reign as king of Thebes.
Oedipus at Colonus — The last of the Theban Plays. This one is on the final days of Oedipus. It takes place just before Seven Against Thebes.
The Women of Trachis — A play about the final days of Heracles (Hercules).
Ajax — A play about the final days of Telamonian Ajax (a character from the Iliad).
Philoctetes — A play about one of the Achaean (Greek) warriors in the Trojan War. He had been abandoned on an island after a snake bite he received festered and the smell became unbearable. Unfortunately for the Achaeans, it turns out they can’t win the war without him. How will they get Philoctetes back after everything they did to him?
Electra — A play that takes place during the events of Aeschylus’ Oresteia and focuses on Electra, Orestes’ sister.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos