These plays, particularly Ajax and Philoctetes, are just too good to be true. So many timeless themes of honor v survival, will v fate, family v justice, sorrow, the psychological trauma of war, the unintended consequences of measures taken out of insecurity, the addiction to misery, and the ultimate hollowness of class and rank distinctions when it comes down to it.

Continuing the tradition of greek tragedy reviewing. Sophocles is by all definitions one of the greatest playwrites of all time. He focuses on the psyche, and often on characters who fall by doing the right thing: who define themselves by honorable traits until it kills them. These plays may be less known on the whole, but still pack a punch. I did notice that these plays had little affect on me in comparison to certain others by Sophocles, but I believe this may partially be a result of transla...

57. Sophocles II : Ajax; The Women of Trachis; Electra; Philoctetes (The Complete Greek Tragedies)translated: 1957format: 255 page paperback (20th printing of a 1969 edition, printed in 1989) acquired: May read: Aug 31 - Sep 5rating: 4 stars There is something special about Sophocles relative to the other two preserved tragedy playwrights. David Grene says he is "the most modern, the nearest to us, of three Greek tragedians". What I think sets him apart is the power of the language itself. I kno...

There is something about Greek literature, Sophocles and Homer most especially, that buries itself in the mind so that it remains unforgettable. The moaning, groaning, wailing, and suffering becomes “your own heart’s speech.” It’s more than a little eerie to identify so well with ancient mythological figures, but their grief and agony articulate the distant voices of the collective unconscious. Perhaps I’m easy to please, but I found all the plays in this edition extraordinarily compelling. My f...

Sophocles...he is great...:)

Few works manage to capture the entire breadth of human emotion in a short 30-40 pages, fewer less do it well. Though these works benefit from an established base of characters and events, the craftsmanship of the Attic poets still shines through. Ajax, of the four, remains one of my favorite pieces of drama, peculiar among Sophocles works for having active participation of the Gods despite not being the source of resolution. Either way, incredible stuff.

It's very sad that from 123 plays written by the great master of Greek Tragedies Sophocles only 7 complete plays survived.In this collection we know how Sophocles can make a great drama from a small tiny event as in Ajax, We know he is the real master of The Greek tragedies compared to Aeschylus and Euripides reading his version of Electra, We know his charm in presenting characters even if they are silent, with only two sentences "Iole in Women of Trachis ", Finally we see in a Greek play a wel...

The standout is the Philoktetes, which is a nice little piece to use as a heuristic for Hegel's theory of tragedy, insofar as Right comes into confrontation with Right, and about which I have written separately. Otherwise--AiasAccused of “an act of staggering horror” (22), Aias has “aimed a stroke at the whole Greek army” (44), a stasis in the camp at Troy. Athena here recalls Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, asking “Who was more full of foresight that this man, / Or abler, do you think, to act with...

Note: This is a joint review with Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies (which is in his Two Plays, with In Camera being the second)Although there are four plays in this book I didn’t get much out of the first one as I began it, so jumped across and just decided to read Electra. I found this very interesting for the use of deception to give oneself an advantage about the situation one is entering before admitting one’s alliance with another. But this is an example given by the gods in some plays, just as...

You cannot count on tomorrow until you've survived today.(945-946)You can't engage in a boxing match with LoveWho'd be such a fool? Love governs even the godsAt his own sweet will. He certainly governs me.(441-443)-Sophocles from Women of Trachis

Greeks with issuesIn the USA there's a social category of people known as "airheads" for whom anything that happened before the year 2000 is "like, major antiquity, guy". What can we say, then, about plays that were written over 2,400 years ago ? For most of my life, the mention of Greek plays was on a par with cod liver oil. Probably good for me, but best avoided if possible. I admit, it was the airhead-lite approach. Recently, I finally buckled down and decided it was now or never. I'm not sor...

At one point, I wanted to read more about Ajax and this play came up in my search. I decided to read the other three for kicks. The other three were fine, but Ajax genuinely got me.Greek tragedies always feel like tragedies in form, but not always in emotion. Ajax is genuinely heartbreaking. It still has the interference of the gods and the devastating loss of life or limb by the play's end. In this play, though, Ajax is wronged from the beginning and his attempts to rectify his situation is thw...

Order starting with my favorite below:1. Electra2. Philoctetes 3. Women of Trachis 4. Ajax

I had planned to only read Electra and Ajax, but I enjoyed those too so much that I decided to read all four of the plays: Ajax, Electra, Women of Trachis, and Philoctetes. These plays by ancient Greek drama great Sophocles delves into the private lives and crises of the heroes and villains of the Trojan War and Greek mythology, especially their children and spouses . In this edition the language is written in free verse and is easy to understand. The language is emotional at times, pleasant, sa...

I've only read one Sophocles' tragedy before (Antigone), but that was top-rate, so my expectations were high. Sophocles didn't disappoint: these were very entertaining and interesting plays that still have relevance, 2500 years after they were written.Women of Trachis told the story of Heracles' suicide by funeral pyre. I was pretty unfamiliar with the mythos around Heracles, so the twists and turns of the story managed to surprise me. Not bad.Ajax was the best of these four plays. Ajax was a he...

The two-volume edition of all of Sophocles' plays by Grene & Lattimore is one of the bes out there, better than Delphi's collection. This second volume contains "Electra," one of my favourite plays ever.

For most people, the name Sophocles is synonymous with Oedipus. Yet, both as a reader of literature and a classical educator, I prefer the non-Oedipus plays of Sophocles, the Ajax in particular. These translations of the plays dealing with Ajax, Hercules, Electra and Philoctetes, edited by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene, are accessible, intelligible, and faithful to the original. I have used this translation many times with students and highly recommend it to someone who wants to read Sophoc...

Great translation of the text. Very readable. Introductions to each play were helpful. Would have preferred footnotes or endnotes to expand, but great translations.

AJAXThe story of Ajax, one of the warriors at Troy, who got angry he was not awarded the armor of the dead Achilles. Instead the armor was awarded to Odysseus his rival. Athena, forever on the side of Odysseus, saves Odysseus from the attack Ajax planned on the leaders of the Greek army. She made Ajax mad and he shames himself by slaughtering a herd of cattle and sheep whom he believes to be his enemies. After his delusions passed, he contemplates suicide.Ajax: “Long life? Who but a coward would...

I especially liked Philoctetes.