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Sophocles' Antigone: A New Translation

by Diane J. Rayor (Translator)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 37 ratings
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Sophocles' Antigone comes alive in this new translation that will be useful for both academic study and stage production. Diane Rayor's accurate yet accessible translation reflects the play's inherent theatricality. She provides an analytical introduction and comprehensive notes, and the edition includes an essay by director Karen Libman. Antigone begins after Oedipus and Jocasta's sons have killed each other in a battle over the kingship. The new king, Kreon, decrees that the brother who attacked with a foreign army remain unburied and promises death to anyone who defies him. The play centers on Antigone's refusal to obey Kreon's law and Kreon's refusal to allow her brother's burial. Each acts on principle colored by gender, personality, and family history. Antigone poses a conflict between passionate characters whose extreme stances leave no room for compromise. The highly charged struggle between the individual and the state has powerful implications for ethical and political situations today.
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Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0521134781
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0521134781
  3. Publisher
    Cambridge University Press
  4. Publication date
    April 18, 2011
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    5.51 x 0.32 x 8.51 inches
  7. Print length
    126 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This accessible new translation of Sophocles' Antigone includes an analytical introduction, comprehensive notes and an essay by director Karen Libman.

About the Author

Diane Rayor is Professor of Classics at Grand Valley State University, where she teaches ancient Greek, mythology, women in antiquity, the classical world, and a classical theatre workshop in the department she co-founded in 2000. Her translations of Greek poetry include Homeric Hymns (2004) and Sappho's Lyre: Archaic Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece (1991); excerpts appear in numerous anthologies, including Norton's Greek Poets (2009). She earned a PhD (1987) from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a BA (1980) from Colorado College. New translations of Euripides' Medea and Sappho's poetry are in progress.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press (April 18, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 126 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0521134781
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521134781
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 0.32 x 8.51 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 37 ratings

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  1. Sophocles

    Sophocles

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  2. Diane J. Rayor

    Diane J. Rayor

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    Diane Rayor is Professor Emerita of Classics at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA, where she co-founded the Classics Department in 2000. Her newest Sappho translation (2023) incorporates thirty-two more fragments than in the first edition (2014) and revisions of over seventy fragments. The second edition also includes an audio recording of the poems by Kate Reading.

    Rayor has published six book translations of ancient Greek poetry, mythology, and drama: Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition 2023); Euripides' 'Medea': A New Translation (Cambridge U P, 2013); Sophocles' 'Antigone': A New Translation (Cambridge U P, 2011); Homeric Hymns: A Translation, with Introduction and Notes (California U P, updated 2014); Sappho's Lyre: Archaic Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece (California U P, 1991); and Callimachus (with S. Lombardo, 1988).

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
37 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Seth
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, Thoughtful Edition
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2022
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I bought this edition specifically because Diane Rayor wrote the book. I heard wonderful things about her translations; namely, how thoughtful they are towards characterization. And the reviews were spot-on. Not only was this a sound book to teach the literature portion from, but the stage directions and explanations were exceedingly helpful for picturing how the actors can move while performing. Plus, there are extra blank pages in the back of the book, which I have been filling with notes and annotations.

The book comes with an explanation towards the beginning, which delves into the nature of the story; the origin, how Sophocles arranged for it to be performed, and the emergence of The Chorus. Their role within ancient plays cannot be overstated, for example in how they are later featured heavily in Shakespeare's. I was ecstatic to read more about them right then and there. Professor Rayor truly went in-depth, even traveling to Greece to learn more about the process of Ancient Greek theatre. All in all, this book has been an absolute joy to possess.
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PB
5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant translation, helpful intro and notes
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
It's been some years since I've read the traditional translations of this great play, but I found Professor Rayor's translation to be an elegant, very readable translation. I also found the introduction to ancient Greek tragedy, including the details of how the plays would have been performed, to be a helpful refresher, providing a historical and visual context for how the play would be performed. After all, it is a play: Aristotle (if I recall correctly) to the contrary, performance is critical. I appreciated Karen Libman's director's note on the initial performance based on this translation. I would like to have seen this, but I will keep my eyes open for a future performance somewhere.
9 people found this helpful
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caroline whydell
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2015
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Excellent copy.
One person found this helpful
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Mohammed
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2015
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👍🏼
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Tia F.
4.0 out of 5 stars good
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2020
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good
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Jon Waters
5.0 out of 5 stars Antigone Defies the King and Buries Her Brother
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2020
This famous Sophocles play takes place in a 24-hour period. It’s a time of civil war in ancient Thebes. Antigone is the elder daughter in the royal family. Her two brothers have just fought a war over the throne, and both have been killed. Her uncle Kreon, as the next male in the royal line, has assumed the throne. His first royal decree is that the brother who attacked with a now-defeated foreign army (Polynices) cannot be buried and that anyone who does so will be killed. Nothing was worse in ancient Greek culture than to be denied ritual burial, left outdoors to be picked at by birds and torn apart by wild dogs. No one else is willing to cross the new king, so Antigone defies king Kreon’s cruel and immoral decree and prepares her brother Polynices for burial. The Greek chorus in the background warns repeatedly of the looming disaster facing the royal family ('Great blows punish/ great boasting by arrogant men'), as Kreon, enraged by Antigone’s defiance of his royal decree, resists public sentiment and orders Antigone to be killed by being buried alive in a cave.

Diane Rayor’s very readable new translation of this powerful play lucidly portrays the conflict that Antigone faces in defying her uncle’s immoral order. Faced with a cruel, heartless, immoral order, what is an individual to do, especially one who is a member of the ruling family? Is a valid decree of the state, no matter how cruel, something that must be complied with by every individual? No, Antigone chooses death rather than be bullied by a tyrant ('O tomb, bridal chamber, deep,/ eternal crypt where I walk toward/ my own kin, most of whom have perished').

Sophocles’ play was written and acted during the brutal 30-years Greek civil war between the Athenian League and Sparta and her allies. The Athenian audience would certainly have recognized the parallels in the famous saga of the Theban royal family with the savage politics of the Athenian state at war. But such profound criticism is easier to process if it ostensibly applies to a different state at a different time.
2 people found this helpful
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