Everyman Classics: Three Dramas Of Old Age: Elektra, Philoktetes, Oedipus At Kolonos With Trackers

Sophocles created these three tragedies in his 80s, when the faction-ridden Athenian democracy was heading towards final defeat in the Peloponnesian War. 'Elektra' dramatises the increasing madness and savagery of the avenging heroine; in 'Philoktetes' Odysseus tries to impose a philosophy of pure expediency on the young captain neoptolemos; and in 'Oidipous at Kolonos', the blind and polluted Oidipous comes to Athens to die. He rewards his benefactors, and destroys those who seek to enlist him for their own selfish ends. The volume also includes the surviving part of Sophocles' satyr-drama 'Trackers' and other selected fragments.