Heracles and Oedipus In Greek Classical Drama

About the Book

Heracles and Oedipus in Greek Classical Drama by Professor Joseph R. Laurin offers a scholarly, clear and easy approach to the understanding of two of the greatest heroes of Ancient Greece and of the glory and tragedy of their stories in Greek Classical theater.

Readers and researchers can benefit greatly from the text and innumerable references presented in this book. Students as well as non-academic readers interested in Classical literature or the Theater can find it fascinating and beneficial.

After projecting a general view of the notion of the Ancient Greek Hero, the author develops the mythical stories of Heracles and Oedipus, and the dramas produced from these myths by the three Classical writers of Tragedy: Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles.

Four plays convey the dramatic story of Heracles: Alcestis, Heracles Mad, The Women of Trachis and The Children of Heracles. The story of Oedipus spans over several generations covered in six plays: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, The Seven Against Thebes, The Phoenician Women, The Suppliant Women and Antigone.

The author's vast knowledge of the sources of information, either in ancient texts or in modern literature, has made his book not only a brief retelling of the stories but a discussion of the major issues of interpretation and a thought-provoking commentary about human life, the universe and the gods.

Heracles and Oedipus in Greek Classical Drama is a valuable contribution to the understanding of two of the greatest heroes of Ancient Greece and of the masterful adaptation of their stories to the theater stage. This book, available either in paperback or hard cover, should inspire further research of the sources and discussion of issues confronting students as well as readers interested in Classical literature or the Theater.

About the Author

Professor Joseph R. Laurin graduated and taught at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He received his DoctorÕs degree from Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. His dissertation on the late third century AD was published under the title of Orientations Ma”tresses des Apologistes ChrŽtiens. In the following years, his interest brought him closer to the poets and philosophers of Classical Greece who gained his respect and a greater measure of his attention for the contribution they made to our civilization, alongside the Hebrew prophets and the Early Christian writers. After teaching at the University of Ottawa, Canada, he moved to California in the late 50s, taught only for a few years, became an administrator at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California, and later a Higher Education consultant in the United States and abroad. Joseph Laurin would like to be remembered as a Classical scholar whose avocation to the Classics dappled most of his years before he returned to them full-time in his retirement and realized again the true joy of research. He taught part-time at the university of Nevada Las Vegas and, in 2005, published two books: Women of Ancient Athens and Homosexuality in Ancient Athens . In 2008, he published a first book on the Greek Classical Theater: Poets of Tragedy in Classical Athens. The present book Heracles and Oedipus in Greek Classical Drama is the story of two of the greatest heroes of Ancient Greece. The glory and tragedy of their lives appeared on the Classical theater stage in masterpieces of great visual and literary beauty for all Ages. Joseph Laurin resides in California with his wife Joan.