Philoktetes smells a rat. That honey-tongued charmer Odysseus shows up on his miserable tiny island where he has remained forgotten; too sick, smelly Philoktetes smells a rat. That honey-tongued charmer Odysseus shows up on his miserable tiny island where he has remained forgotten; too sick, smelly and wretched for the guys on the boat to deal with on their way to Troy. But now, they remember him! They want him! They will give him the medical attention he so badly needs! Oh, and by the way they ask, do you still have that old bow that Hercules gave you? Once again Sophocles writes the subversive play, the history as experienced by the underdog. Could this glittering Greek hero Odysseus, a man for the ages who will even one day have a mini-van named for him, be playing him? Read on! This is great stuff. Well translated by Gregory McNamee....more
The greatness of Sophocles, what has kept his name alive, his plays in print and on stage is he is concerned with the individual. We care about AntigoThe greatness of Sophocles, what has kept his name alive, his plays in print and on stage is he is concerned with the individual. We care about Antigone, root for her, cry for her because he introduces her to us on a level we can all understand. Antigone chooses honor, love and loyalty over obedience. She makes a scene. Hers is a bravery for the ages. Sophocles heard these stories and fashioned a play that immortalizes Antigone without perfecting her.
This great play is a time telescope giving us an intimate immersive experience of events 2,400 years ago. The title character is a woman, a strong minded woman who bucks the system. Already the years fall away. We can know this person. Antigone is the unlucky daughter of Oedipus (never easy to have a parent who will have a psychiatric complex named after them). The old man himself, her sister and all her her friends advise her to distance herself from her even unluckier dad, and to forget the dishonor her brother suffered as he lies killed and left in the street unburied. Her sister Ismene, is a ambiguous and fascinating character as well. Still she persists.
The excellent translation free on is by Francis Storr....more
The second in the Oedipus trilogy, this play takes it down from the world of gods, myths and kings to focus on an old man and his family. Ok, not any The second in the Oedipus trilogy, this play takes it down from the world of gods, myths and kings to focus on an old man and his family. Ok, not any old man, and not a typical situation, but what makes the play resound through time is the tenderness captured by Sophocles as he depicts Oedipus and Antigone, an elderly blind father being led by his faithful headstrong daughter. It’s clear from the outset that Oedipus is searching for the right place to end his wandering in exile . Colonus is that place. A wooded glen outside of Athens, it has continued to represent a nature portal, a place one can exhale, slow down, give thanks and reflect. In one scene Oedipus talks to his daughters Antigone and Ismene about all they have endured, and all that is inevitably to come. It is a passage dear to my heart.
“A heavy load, I know, and yet one word Wipes out all score of tribulations - love. And love from me ye had - from no man more; But now you must live without me all your days.�
The genius of Sophocles shines through in his empathy as well as his talent. Once again F. Storr makes all the right choices in his translation, and has the moxie to use hexameter and rhyme to echo the original. The result is that rare achievement, poetry truly rendered that is reborn, becoming poetry once more in its new tongue....more
“Time alone reveals the just; A villain is detected in a day� Sophocles asserts in Oedipus Rex, brilliantly translated by F. Storr. I’ve read that Sha“Time alone reveals the just; A villain is detected in a day� Sophocles asserts in Oedipus Rex, brilliantly translated by F. Storr. I’ve read that Shakespeare modeled his historical plays after Sophocles the similarities are many. Both used the fairly recent lives of figures from their own culture’s history, made them flesh and blood we can cheer for, hate, cry over. Sophocles uses language beautifully, created edge of the seat drama but also, crucially, concocted scenes that the modern viewer of any time can draw valuable inference from. Here’s a timely one, “Of insolence is bred The Tyrant.� I suspect a person of almost any time or place might find resonance there, certainly in the USA of 2017-2021 an example comes to mind. The concern of this play is Oedipus, a complex man (sorry). Sophocles finds in this mythological character the perfect path to explore Fate and Free Will, Honor and Duty. He is, “no willing sinner� but will that innocence save him? He answers his rival Creon’s taunts that amount to, ‘Dude you married your mom, gross�, by noting that he stoops to “blurting forth against me all I have borne...Since thou could’st find no sin in me myself ...how canst thou With justice blame the all-unconscious hand?�
Part of the attraction of reading ancient literature is the almost unadulterated immersion into the spirit of their time. A kinship bridges the years in finding out that even the gods that were then so animated and ubiquitous often became suddenly become remote and unreachable. It’s fascinating to read first hand how this conflicts resolves in a play, to imagine the words spoken aloud, each audience member busily applying them to herself or himself as I do more than a hundred generations later. ...more
"The best told lie bears but a short-lived fruit." Ok so that's still true. Aeschylus, an acknowledged master of Greek drama (circa 450 BCE) brought c"The best told lie bears but a short-lived fruit." Ok so that's still true. Aeschylus, an acknowledged master of Greek drama (circa 450 BCE) brought characters to life that were already calcified at the time he produced this play. His magic still works. Agamemnon, self-centered but brave, his wife Clytemnestra, long suffering, in fact the epitome of long suffering. Cassandra, now a slave, still relegated to speak prophecy that is dismissed. And finally that clever creation of Greek drama, the Chorus, like a friend sitting next to you whispering their thoughts about the movie you're watching. What struck me most reading this was what hit me the first time I read ancient greek plays, at Hampshire College, reading the funny plays of Aristophanes. Damn, these people are just like, I mean exactly like, modern people. Somehow I expected them to at least be be fully superstitious, and to never question the line about the nobility of war. Not the case. Aeschylus defies both stereotypes and won the award for best play, thereby changing my entire view of ancient people and then, as a logical consequence, my perception of our present day hypocrisy and how it persists despite so many seeing through it. A couple of the lines, spoken by the Chorus, that surprised me and stay with me:
"Zeus, or what other name The god that reigns supreme delights to claim, Him I invoke; him of all powers that be, Alone I find, Who from this bootless load of doubt can free My laboring mind."
Now I know that I share this quest for, hope for, a supreme and caring being in the face of overwhelming doubt. I'm open to any god here. This shared hope adds meaning to my life and makes me less lonely.
"For Mars doth market bodies, and for gold Gives dust."
That is an anti-war statement for the ages. And lastly, some lines representative of the many in the play, that just resonate across the millenia:
"Whoso fears evil where no harm appears, Reap first himself the fruit of his own fears."
The experience of reading this ancient work was like a welcome home. The good kind. The version one chooses is important. This one is beautifully rendered in a translation that includes rhyme and meter by John Stuart Blackie (available free on Project Gutenberg) ....more
“Let Virtue herself by her own charms draw you to honor.� This short book is a bolt from the blue. The practical Cicero is at once mystical and logica“Let Virtue herself by her own charms draw you to honor.� This short book is a bolt from the blue. The practical Cicero is at once mystical and logical as he puts human experience in perspective, describing our brief hour upon the stage. Our lives are seen as brief but far from insignificant, the meaning coming not at all from worldly fame but from being true to the divine part in us, “know also that you are a god�. ...more
This is an enjoyable and thorough overview of Western Philosophy from its origins in Greek Asia Minor up through the 16th century. Gottlieb has dug inThis is an enjoyable and thorough overview of Western Philosophy from its origins in Greek Asia Minor up through the 16th century. Gottlieb has dug in and his deep understanding of the schools of thought and their intricate relationships makes this the ideal book to get the timelines straight without just skimming the surface.
I can't decide if his humor (which I like) detracts a little from the grandeur of the subject or makes what could be an overwhelming trudge much lighter. I think I just decided, when in doubt go with humor, that's my philosophy.
I'm interested in the current revival of Stoic philosophy. There is a Stoic Week and good discussions led by Massimo Pigliucci on youtube and blogs. ...more
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