Oedipus King of Thebes: Translated into English Rhyming Verse with Explanatory Notes.

A city is dying, a king vows to find the cause, and the trail of truth leads, step by relentless step, back to himself. Sophocles' masterpiece remains the most perfectly constructed tragedy ever written.

What it's about

This edition presents Sophocles' Oedipus the King in an English rhyming verse translation with explanatory notes. Thebes is stricken by plague, and King Oedipus swears to hunt down the murderer of the previous king whose death has polluted the city. As Oedipus questions prophet, messenger, and shepherd, the investigation closes in with terrible momentum, until the truth of his own birth and deeds stands fully revealed and the prophecy he sought to escape is shown to have been fulfilled all along.

Themes

The play probes fate and free will, the limits of human knowledge, and the peril of the very intelligence that makes Oedipus great. Sight and blindness, truth pursued and truth dreaded, pride and the sudden fall of the fortunate all give the tragedy its depth. Its dramatic irony, the audience knowing what the hero does not, is unsurpassed.

Why it still matters

Aristotle held up Oedipus as the model of tragic construction, and it has anchored Western drama ever since, its story reshaped by every age, most famously by modern psychology. Its questions about destiny and self-knowledge never close. This verse translation with notes offers a readable and stage-worthy way into the play.

Who it's for

For students and lovers of drama, for readers approaching Greek tragedy for the first time, and for anyone drawn to a story of dreadful discovery told with matchless power. The foundation stone of tragedy.