Two Faces of Oedipus

Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Seneca's Oedipus

de Sophocles

"Sophocles' "Oedipus tyrannus" is the most famous of ancient tragedies and a literary masterpiece. It is not, however, the only classical dramatization of Oedipus' quest to discover his identity. Seneca composed a fine, but neglected and often disparaged Latin tragedy on the same subject, which, in some ways, comes closer to our common understanding of the Oedipus myth." In new translations by Frederick Ahl, readers can compare the two versions.--[book cover].