🎧 Sophocles' Lost Plays: Solving the Puzzle
🎧 The Ancients
•
53m
The Big Three. In antiquity it could mean a whole host of different things, the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus for instance. But for many, ‘The Big Three’ means the three great tragedians of Ancient Greece we know so well today: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Today’s podcast is all about Sophocles, the creator of famous plays such as Oedipus Rex, Ajax and Antigone. Seven of his plays survive in full, but believe it or not this is but a morsel of the many works that Sophocles created. Fragments of more than 100 other plays written by Sophocles have been uncovered. Though only snippets survive, and in various forms, they have provided valuable insights into Sophocles’ career and how he wrote much more than just tragedy. Even more extraordinary, to this day new fragments continue to be studied. They continue to reveal more about Sophocles and his works, slowly adding more pieces to the puzzle that is this famous dramatist - and ancient Greek drama as a whole. Sophocles may have been living over 2,500 years ago, but his story is far from over. I was delighted to be joined by Dr Lyndsay Coo, a leading expert on Sophocles and his lost plays, to talk through the life and legacy of this famous dramatist. We first talk about Sophocles and his seven surviving plays, before going on to the many, many fragments that survive and their significance. This was an enthralling and eye-opening chat. Enjoy.
Up Next in 🎧 The Ancients
-
🎧 The Siege of Rhodes: Classical Anti...
Stephen deCasien joined me to talk through the most INSANE battle of Classical Antiquity, that most people likely have never heard of. In 305/304 BC, the island of Rhodes came up against the superpower of the time: the Antigonid Kingdom. One city against a superpower, what followed was a siege of...
-
🎧 The Battle of Philippi: Death of th...
In October 42 BC the Roman Republic committed suicide. Near the town of Philippi in northern Greece the forces of Brutus and Cassius, the famous assassins of Julius Caesar and the last surviving cheerleaders of the Roman Republic, faced off against the armies of Marc Antony and young Octavian. Tw...
-
🎧 Legendary Co Loa: Vietnam's Ancient...
It is one of the most extraordinary ancient archaeological sites in Southeast Asia, albeit one that is relatively unheard of outside of Vietnam. Co Loa. A defensive stronghold that during its golden age became the beating heart of ancient Vietnam. To this day the city holds a deep national import...
