Sophocles In an Hour »

Carl R. Mueller was a professor in the Department of Theater at the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1967 until his death in 2008. There he directed and taught theater history, criticism, dramatic literature, and playwriting. A translator for more than forty years, he translated and published works by Büchner, Brecht, Wedekind, Hauptmann, Hofmannsthal, and Hebbel, to name a few. For Smith and Kraus he translated individual volumes of plays by Schnitzler, Strindberg, Pirandello, Kleist, Goethe, and Wedekind and all four major Greek playwrights. His translations have been performed in every English-speaking country and have appeared on BBC-TV.

When he was not writing tragedies, acting in his own plays, and innovating ancient Greek theater, Sophocles served as an ordained priest at a temple for the god of medicine. Thinking about the end of life, Sophocles began outlining Oedipus the King, a tragedy that examines fate, death, and the mysterious depths of the human psyche themes that he explored in all of his masterful plays.

Setting the playwright in context to his personal life, social, historical and political events, other writers of influence, and more, you will quickly gain a deep understanding of Sophocles and the plays he wrote. Read Sophocles in an Hour and experience his plays like never before. Know the playwright, love the play!

The book features:

• Sophocles in an Hour, the main essay of the book

• Sophocles In a Minute, a snapshot chronology

• A complete listing of Sophocles' work

• A list of Sophocles' contemporaries in all fields

• Excerpts from Sophocles' significant works

• An extensive bibliography grouped according to type of reader

• An index of the main essay.

Playwrights in an Hour is a series devoted to the most produced and studied playwrights in the English language, from the Greek masters to contemporary writers, and written by leading authorities in the field. Each short book places the playwright and his or her work in historical, social, and literary context.

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