With attention to the intensity of spoken language, a poet and a classicist combine talents to create a new translation of Sophocles' tragic drama about the downfall of Oedipus after he murders his father and marries his mother

Oedipus the King (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

Reference

Clay, Diskin

Berg, Stephen

SOPHOCLES

Words, Language & Grammar

Oxford University Press

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly recreate the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the sense of poetry evident in the originals. Under the editorship of Peter Burian and Alan Shaprio, each volume includes a critical introduction, commentary on difficult passages, ample stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical names and geographical references encountered in the dialogue. Sophocles' Oedipus the King paves the way as the first in the series to appear in paperback. In this highly-acclaimed translation of the greatest of all Greek tragedies, Stephen Berg--the well-known poet--and Diskin Clay--the distinguished classicist--combine their talents to offer the contemporary reader a dazzling version of Sophocles' timeless work. Emphasizing the intensity of the spoken language, they capture the unrelenting power of Sophoclean drama. No other English translation conveys the same terrifying emotional level, especially in the choral odes, the forceful descriptions of Jokasta's death, the blinding of Oedipus, and the final scene of desolation. Berg and Clay's translation--now available for the first time in paperback--both adheres strictly to the original meaning of the play and breathes new life into its language.

Literature & Fiction

Dramas & Plays

Lucian, True History: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary

Lucian of Samosata's True History is a fantastical tale of voyage and imagination. No editor, translator, or reader knows quite how to describe it or fit it comfortably into a familiar genre of Greek literature: 'satires' and 'dialogues' only partially describe the genre or genres he wrote in. Of all the ancient Greco-Roman writers, Lucian is without doubt one of the most inventive and witty. The Greek text in this edition of the True History is accompanied by a facing page English translation, making it an accessible and informative resource aimed at students and teachers of Greek. Whether used in the classroom or in research, readers will benefit from an introduction to Lucian and his place in imperial Greek literature, as well as a translation and commentary that bring out the wonders of his True History.

History & Criticism

The dialogue has disappeared as a mode of writing philosophy, and philosophers who study Plato today often ignore the form in which Plato’s work appears in favor of reconstructing and analyzing arguments thought to be conveyed by the content of the dialogues. A distinguished classicist here offers an approach to understanding Plato that tries to do full justice to the form of Platonic philosophy, appreciated against the background of Greek literature and history, while also giving proper due to the important philosophic content of the dialogues.The book deals in turn with Plato’s relation to and portraits of Socrates, the literary and philosophical character of the dialogues (including the problems of interpreting a philosopher who never speaks in his own name), and the modes of argumentation employed in the dialogues as well as some of their major themes.

Platonic Questions: Dialogues with the Silent Philosopher

Penn State University Press

The dialogue has disappeared as a mode of writing philosophy, and philosophers who study Plato today often ignore the form in which Plato's work appears in favor of reconstructing and analyzing arguments thought to be conveyed by the content of the dialogues. A distinguished classicist here offers an approach to understanding Plato that tries to do full justice to the form of Platonic philosophy, appreciated against the background of Greek literature and history, while also giving proper due to the important philosophic content of the dialogues.The book deals in turn with Plato's relation to and portraits of Socrates, the literary and philosophical character of the dialogues (including the problems of interpreting a philosopher who never speaks in his own name), and the modes of argumentation employed in the dialogues as well as some of their major themes.

Paradosis and Survival presents Diskin Clay's fifteen essays devoted to recovering the three main phases of Epicureanism in antiquity: the origin in the first generation of the school in Athens; its spread to Italy in the first century b.c.e.; and its movement to Lycia in the second century c.e. Clay recognizes the subtle intertwining of philosophy and lifestyle, and he makes use of papyri and inscriptions as well as familiar philosophical texts to illuminate both. The first series of essays concentrates on the mechanisms Epicurus devised to assure the survival of the philosophy beyond its Athenian roots. Clay presents social history on an equal footing with doctrine, and offers for the first time evidence for hero cults among philosophers who believed that the soul died with the body. The second set of essays concentrates Epicureanism in the age of Cicero, Philodemus, and Lucretius. In the four essays on De Rerum Natura, Lucretius is viewed not as a transparency through which we can view the Greek of Epicurus, but a Roman philosopher in control of both doctrine and rhetoric. The book concludes with the study of the philosophy in Oenoanda, Lycia, in which the author brilliantly situates post-1968 discoveries from Oenoanda and the Villa de Papiri in Herculaneum in the context of the second-century mountain city.This study of Epicureanism as a social movement will be of interest to students of ancient philosophy and the philosophy of early modern Europe, when Epicureanism was revived. In addition, scholars of the New Testament will find parallels to the rise and spread of Christianity. Diskin Clay is the R. J. R. Nabisco Distinguished Professor of Classical Studies, Duke University.

Paradosis and Survival: Three Chapters in the History of Epicurean Philosophy

History

Americas

University of Michigan Press

The discovery of the Mnesiepes inscription on Paros revealed the third century B.C. belief that the young Archilochos was transformed into a poet by an encounter with the Muses. It also revealed that the poet had become the object of a cult by his fellow islanders as he was transformed in death to a local hero. This is the first attempt to trace the history of this cult from the late sixth century B.C. to the third century A.D.. The author also integrates the iconography of the poet into the history of this cult, and addresses for the first time the larger phenomenon of the cult of poets in the Greek states. This study provides appendices giving sources of information for these cults, including the text of the Mnesiepes inscription. It is illustrated by in-text figures and plates.

Archilochos Heros: The Cult of Poets in the Greek Polis (Hellenic Studies)

Center for Hellenic Studies

Lucretius and Epicurus

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Cornell Univ Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Clay, Diskin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Clay, Diskin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Clay, Diskin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Oedipus the King (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

Oedipus the King (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

Lucian, True History: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary

Lucian, True History: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary

Platonic Questions: Dialogues with the Silent Philosopher

Platonic Questions: Dialogues with the Silent Philosopher

Platonic Questions: Dialogues with the Silent Philosopher

Paradosis and Survival: Three Chapters in the History of Epicurean Philosophy

Archilochos Heros: The Cult of Poets in the Greek Polis (Hellenic Studies)

Lucretius and Epicurus