Dec 20, 2009

The Oedipus Trilogy | Historical Background

The long life that Sophocles lived touched the centuries when the arc of Athenian civilization rose and fell sharply. Athens had been a contested corner of the globe since the time of the Old Testament’s kings. Many centuries of war and tyranny, illuminated by brief flashes of democratic reforms, shaped the history of the city-state into which Sophocles was born. The city felt the lash of tyranny again in the years after Sophocles died.

During the 5th century B.C., when Sophocles wrote, the political theory underpinning our...