Blind Eyes and Open Ears (Oedipus Tyrannos, Part 2)

In Part 2 of our series on Oedipus Tyrannos, Emily Wilson highlights the delights and challenges of translating Greek tragedy into English, the play's long history of adaptation and live staging, and the ways in which Oedipus Tyrannos has continued to resonate with audiences over millennia.  What can the titular tyrant's ill-fated mistakes still teach us about the dangers of misinformation and unchecked power?
 
Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies and Graduate Chair of the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance and Early Modern scholarship, a MacArthur Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. In addition to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, she has also published translations of Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Oedipus Tyrannos,  go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/OT. 

Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.

Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by Oedipus Tyrannos: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4MD6ds83udqlbI8jvbR8ic?si=ea7aa9974f2e4fb1.

Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.

Episode transcript at: https://seagull.wwnorton.com/oedipustyrannos/part2/transcript.