The Irrational
The Triumph of the Sphinx – her cruel and irrational power over human life, one of the key themes in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. She was often represented on the tombs of young men, as here. She is the most formidable enemy Oedipus has to face at Thebes.
Getting Away From The Dark Side: Oedipus and Hamlet
One of the best commentaries on Sophocles’ hero, Oedipus, and the Vision of the play can be found in the Penguin Classics reprint: SOPHOCLES. The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. The fabulous translation of these works by Robert Fagles has none of the self-conscious ‘classicism’ and ‘Ancient’ staginess of so many others.