Finally! I was craving Antigone last night, so I went to bed a little earlier with my Kindle… I had downloaded the Theban plays from amazon.com a few days ago. Encouraged by the fact that somebody commented positively on the translation, I had gone with the Storr version. Yesterday, after reading just a few lines of Oedipus the King, however, I had to give up: the rythm felt flat, slilted. The translator’s fault? Mine? Sophocles?

Things were no better this morning, so I have decided to look for another translation. A little research suggested a few alternatives: Stefanie read  the play in Heaney’s translation (I loved his Beowulf, but her account of  his Antigone is leaving me unconvinced), Braun’s translation sounds very good (and might even be available from my local library!), and Antigone’s claim referenced both the Hugh Lloyd-Jones edition and the David Grene translation.

I know I probably only have three readers here, but I also know they are the kind of bright minds to have an opinion on such matters. Any suggestion?

EDIT: I wrote the above from our local coffee shop… Upon coming home, I grabbed the first volume of the Norton’s anthology of World Literature, a little randomly. It has the full Fagles version of Antigone — probably not the choice I would have made for this specific read through (a slightly more literal version might have been better to read the play in the light of its critical discussion in Antigone’s claim), but it will do beautifully for now!