Dates Completed

.......The probable date for the completion of Antigone was 441 B.C. and for Oedipus the King, 430 B.C. Oedipus at Colonus was produced posthumously in 401 B.C. However, as stated under "Sequence and Classification," the story Sophocles tells begins with Oedipus the King, continues with Oedipus at Colonus, and ends with Antigone.

Sophoclean Tragedy

.......A tragedy of Sophocles, as well as another Greek playwright, is a verse drama written in elevated language in which a noble protagonist falls to ruin during a struggle caused by a flaw (hamartia) in his character, such as pride (hubris), or an error in his rulings or judgments. A Greek tragedy has the following characteristics:

• It is based on events that already took place. The audience is familiar with these events. 
• The protagonist (main character) is a person of noble birth and stature. 
• The protagonist has a weakness and, because of it, becomes isolated and suffers a downfall. 
• Because the protagonist's fall is not entirely his or her own fault, the audience may end up pitying him or her. 
• The fallen protagonist gains self-knowledge. He has a deeper insight into himself and understands his weakness. 
• The audience undergoes catharsis, a purging of emotions, after experiencing pity, fear, shock and other strong feelings. The people go away feeling better. 
• The drama usually unfolds in one place in a short period of time, generally about one day. 

.......A Greek tragedy focuses on a great and noble character--such as Oedipus, a king--but a Greek comedy usually does not. Also, in a comedy, the author usually pokes fun at the characters. Finally, a comedy does not end tragically. An example of a classic Greek comedy is Lysistrata, by Aristophanes. 

Role of the Chorus

.......The chorus generally had the following roles in the plays of Sophocles: 

• To explain the action
• To interpret the action in relation to the law of the state and the law of the Olympian gods
• To foreshadow the future
• To serve as an actor in the play
• To sing and/or dance
• To present the author's views. 

Pride (Hubris or Hybris) as a Character Flaw

.......Pride was considered a grave sin because it placed too much emphasis on individual will, thereby downplaying the will of the state and endangering the community as a whole. Because pride makes people unwilling to accept wise counsel, they act rashly and make bad decisions. Great pride, such as that of Oedipus (Oedipus Rex) or Creon (Antigone), is referred to as hybris or hubris.

Mythology Background
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........To understand Oedipus the King, as well as the continuation of the Oedipus story in the other two Theban plays, readers and playgoers should familiarize themselves with the following mythological background, well known to the Greeks who attended productions of the plays on the stages of ancient Greece.

........An oracle warns King Laius of Thebes that his wife, Jocasta, will bear a son who will one day kill him. After Jocasta gives birth to a boy, Laius acts to defeat the prophecy. First, he drives a spike through the child's feet, then takes him to Mount Cithaeron and orders a shepherd to kill him. But the shepherd, taking pity on the baby, spares him after binding his feet and tying him to a tree. A peasant finds the baby and gives him to a childless couple--Polybus (also Polybius), King of Corinth, and his wife, Periboea (also Merope). They name the boy Oedipus (meaning swelled foot) and raise him to manhood. 
........One day, when Oedipus visits the oracle at Delphi, the chief city of a region in central Greece known as Phocis, the oracle tells Oedipus that a time will come when he slays his father and marries his mother. Horrified, Oedipus later strikes out from Corinth. He does not want to live anywhere near his beloved parents, Polybus and Periboea, lest a trick of fate cause him to be the instrument of their demise. What he does not know, of course, is that Polybus and Periboea are not his real parents.
........In Phocis on the road to Thebes, at an intersection of three roads, Oedipus encounters his real father Laius, whom he does not recognize, and five attendants. Laius, who is riding in a mule-drawn wagon, is on his way to Delphi to hear a prophecy from the oracle. Laius, of course, does not recognize Oedipus either. Oedipus and Laius quarrel over a triviality--who has the right of way. The quarrel leads to violence, and Oedipus kills Laius and four of his attendants. One attendant escapes.
........Outside Thebes, Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a winged lion with the head of a woman. The grotesque creature has killed many Thebans because they could not answer her riddle: What travels on four feet in the morning, two at midday, and three in evening? Consequently, the city lives in great terror. No one can enter or leave the city. 
........When Oedipus approaches the Sphinx, the beast poses the riddle. Oedipus, quick of mind, spits back the right answer: man. Here is the explanation: As an infant in the morning of life, a human being crawls on all fours; as an adult in the midday of life, he walks upright on two legs; as an old man in the evening of life, he walks on three legs, including a cane. 
........Surprised and outraged, the Sphinx kills herself. Jubilant Thebans then offer this newcomer the throne of Thebes. Oedipus accepts it and marries its widowed queen, Jocasta. Jocasta is, of course, the mother of Oedipus, although no one in Thebes is aware of this fact. Thus, the oracle's prophecy to Laius and Oedipus is fulfilled.
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......Although Sophocles died more than twenty-four centuries ago, he continues to live today in his plays as one of history's greatest writers. His themes–justice, pride, obstinacy, flawed humanity, and the struggle between destiny and free will–are as timely today as they were in his own time. Aristotle lauded Sophocles as the supreme dramatist, maintaining that Oedipus the King was a model for all playwrights to imitate.
......Sophocles was born a mile northwest of Athens in the deme (township) of Colonus between 497 and 495 B.C. Because his father, Sophillus, shared in the profits of a successful family weapons and armor manufactory, Sophocles was a child of advantage, enjoying the comforts of the privileged and receiving an education that undergirded his natural talents. He studied poetry, dance, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, law, athletics, and military tactics. He also studied music and became accomplished at playing the cithara, a stringed instrument resembling the lyre of the harp family.
......In spite of his aristocratic background and entitlements, Sophocles was a man of the people: kindly, generous, popular. Fellow Athenians esteemed him highly throughout his life. That he was quite handsome may have helped bolster his popularity. 
......Sophocles earned his entry into the Athenian literary world with a play entitled Triptolemus, which does not survive. He used it in 468 to defeat another outstanding dramatist, Aeschylus, in a writing competition. Competing plays were performed in a theater dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry. Sophocles went on to win about two dozen more drama awards against Aeschylus and other extraordinary writers. It is said that he sometimes acted in plays. On one occasion, he reportedly presented a juggling act that dazzled the audience. 
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Sophocles' Innovations
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......Until Sophocles' time, dramatists wrote tragedies three at a time. The second play continued the action of the first, and the third play continued the action of the second. The entire three-play series of tragedies was called a trilogy. Sophocles broke with tradition by writing single plays that stood alone as dramatic units. Ajax is an example of a stand-alone Sophocles play. The Oedipus series of plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone) is not technically a trilogy (although sometimes referred to as one) because the plays were written years apart as single units. 
......Sophocles also emphasized people more than his predecessors, taking characters in well-known plots from mythology and dressing them up as real human beings with noble but complex personalities vulnerable to pride and flawed judgment. Audiences in ancient Athens did not go to a Sophocles play to be entertained by a plot with a surprise ending. They already knew the ending. They went to a Sophocles play to see how the characters reacted to the forces working for or against them--mostly against. Thus, Sophocles' plays required superb writing and characterization to hold the interest of the audience. 
......In portraying his characters, Sophocles raised irony to high art, making the characters unwitting victims of fate or their own shortcomings. The irony was both verbal (with characters speaking words laden with meaning unknown to them) and dramatic (with characters ensnaring themselves in predicaments charged with danger that they do not recognize but that the audience well knows will lead to disaster). The audience knew, for example, what Oedipus did not know (until the end of Oedipus the King): that the man he killed and the woman he married were his father and mother. This type of dramatic irony occurs often in Sophocles' plays, allowing the audience to become engrossed with a character's response to a situation rather than the eventual outcome of the situation. 
......Another of Sophocles' innovations was an increase in the number of actors in plays from two to three, presenting more opportunities to contrast characters and create foils. He also introduced painted scenery, enhanced costuming, and fixed the number of persons in the chorus at 15. The chorus also diminished in importance; it was the actors who mattered. 
......"The key to his work was provided by Matthew Arnold in the phrase to the effect that Sophocles possessed an 'even-balanced soul,' " drama critic John Gassner wrote in Masters of the Drama (New York: Random House, 1954, Page 42). "He comprehended both the joy and grief of living, its beauty and ugliness, its moments of peace and its basic uncertainty so concisely expressed by his line 'Human life, even in its utmost splendor and struggle, hangs on the edge of an abyss.' "
......Sophocles' handling of human tragedy was influenced, in part, by the tragedies of war. During his lifetime he had witnessed the devastating Persian and Peloponnesian wars and even participated in a war when he served as a general with Pericles to quell rebellion on Samos, an Aegean island.
......Besides military duty, Sophocles served as a city treasurer, helping to control the money of the Delian Confederacy of states. He also served as member of a governing council and as a priest in the service of Asclepius, the god of medicine, to whom he was especially devoted. Well into old age, he remained productive in civic activities and writing. He wrote Oedipus at Colonus, for example, when he was over 90. It was that play which saved him from a charge of mental incompetence brought by his sons. According to ancient accounts by Cicero and Plutarch, when Sophocles appeared in court, he read from Oedipus at Colonus, which he was working on at that time. So impressed were the members of the jury that they acquitted him, apparently realizing that only a man fully in charge of his faculties could write such beautiful words. Sophocles died about 405. He and his wife, Nicostrate, had a son, Iophon, who was also a tragedian. Sophocles and his mistress, Theoris of Sicyon, had a child named Agathon. Agathon was the father of Sophocles the Younger, also a writer.

Above: Public domain image of Sophocles from Widimedia Commons

Glossary of Greek Drama

Agon: a debate between characters in a play. For example, in The Clouds, a comedy staged in 423 B.C. by Aristophanes, two teachers at a thinking shop operated by Socrates debate the validity of traditional values and logical reasoning (which Aristophanes supports) vs the new ideas and deceptive reasoning of philosophers known as sophists. 
Anagnorisis Startling discovery; moment of epiphany; time of revelation when a character discovers his true identity. Anagnorisis occurs in Oedipux Rex when Oedipus realizes who he is.
Antagonist Chief opponent of the protagonist in a Greek play. 
Attica Peninsula in southeastern Greece that included Athens. According to legend, the King of Athens, Theseus, unified 12 states in Attica into a single state dominated by Athenian leadership and the Athenian dialect of the Greek language. The adjective Attic has long been associated with the culture, language and art of Athens. The great period of Greek drama, between the Sixth and Fourth Centuries, B.C., is known as the Attic Period. Drama itself was invented by an Attic actor, Thespis, who introduced speaking parts to accompany choral odes.
Catastrophe Denouement (resolution) of a tragedy in the drama of ancient Greece.
Catharsis In literature and art, a purification of emotions. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) used the term to describe the effect on the audience of a tragedy acted out on a theater stage. This effect consists in cleansing the audience of disturbing emotions, such as fear and pity, thereby releasing tension. This purgation occurs as a result of either of the following reactions: (1) Audience members resolve to avoid conflicts of the main character–for example, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex and Creon in Antigone–that arouse fear or pity or (2) audience members transfer their own pity and fear to the main character, thereby emptying themselves of these disquieting emotions. In either case, the audience members leave the theater as better persons intellectually, morally, or socially. They have either been cleansed of fear of pity or have vowed to avoid situations that arouse fear and pity. In modern usage, catharsis may refer to any experience, real or imagined, that purges a person of negative emotions. 
Chorus Bystanders in a Greek play who present odes on the action. A parode (or parados) is a song sung by the chorus when it enters. A stasimon is a song sung during the play, between episodes of action. The chorus generally had the following roles in the plays of Sophocles and other Greek playwrights: (1) to explain the action, (2) to interpret the action in relation to the law of the state and the law of the Olympian gods, (3) to foreshadow the future, (4) to serve as an actor in the play,  (5) to sing and/or dance, and (6) to give the author's views. In some ways, the chorus is like the narrator of a modern film or like the background music accompanying the action of the film. In addition, it is like text on the film screen that provides background information or identifies the time and place of the action. On occasion, the chorus may address the audience, as in the revised version of The Clouds, by Aristophanes.
Chalmys Short, sleeveless outer garment, or cloak, worn by some actors in a play of ancient Greece.
Cothurni (singular, cothurnus): Boots worn by actors in ancient Greece to increase their height and, thus, visibility to theater audiences. Singular: cothurnus.
Denouement Outcome or conclusion of a literary work; the final part of a plot. The denouement occurs after the climax.
Dialogue Conversation between characters in a play. 
Drama: Literary work with dialogue written in verse and spoken by actors playing characters experiencing conflict and tension. In Greek drama, a play often derives its plot from stories from history or mythology. The English word drama comes from the Greek word "dran," meaning "to do."
Dramatic irony Failure of a character to see or understand what is obvious to the audience. Oedipus, for example, was unaware early on of what the audience knew: that he was married to his own mother, Jocasta. 
Dionysia See Dionysus. 
Dionysus Patron god of Greek drama; god of wine and vegetation. Dionysus, called Bacchus by the Romans, was the son of Zeus and one of the most important of the Greek gods. Dionysus died each winter and was reborn each spring, a cycle his Greek devotees identified with the death and rebirth of nature. He thus symbolized renewal and rejuvenation, and each spring the Greeks celebrated his resurrection with ceremonies that eventually included drama contests. The most prestigious of these festivals was the Greater Dionysia, held in Athens for five days and  participated in by playwrights such as Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and Euripides. Festivals held in villages and small towns were called the Rural Dionysia. 
Dithyramb Choral hymn that praised Dionysus, god of wine and revelry, and sometimes told a story. In his great work Poetics, Aristotle wrote that dithyrambs inspired the development of Greek tragic plays, such as those of Sophocles. The first "play" supposedly took place in the 6th Century B.C. when Thespis, a member of a chorus, took the part of a character in a dithyramb. The action shifted back and forth between him and the chorus. See also thespian.
Emmelia Type of dance accompanying some odes.
Episode Scene or section of a play with dialogue. An episode may be compared with acts or scenes in a Shakespeare play. Episodes come between the odes sung by the chorus. The dialogue in an episode usually involves one or two characters and the chorus.
Exodos, or Exode Final scene of a play after the last stasimon. 
Greater Dionysia See Dionysus.
Hamartia Character flaw or judgment error of the protagonist of a Greek tragedy. Hamartia is derived the Greek word hamartanein, meaning to err or to make a mistake. The first writer to use the term was Aristotle, in The Poetics.
.Hybris or Hubris Great pride. Hybris often is the character flaw (hamartia) of a protagonist in Greek drama. Pride was considered a grave sin because it placed too much emphasis on individual will, thereby downplaying the will of the state and endangering the community as a whole. Because pride makes people unwilling to accept wise counsel, they act rashly and make bad decisions. 
Machine Armlike device in an ancient Greek theater that could lower a "god" onto the stage from the "heavens." The Greek word for machine, mechane, later gave rise to a pejorative Latin term, deus ex machina (god from a machine), to describe a contrived event in a literary work or film. A contrived event is a plot weakness in which a writer makes up an incident--such as a detective stumbling upon an important clue or a hero arriving in the nick of time to save a damsel in distress--to further the action. The audience considers such events improbable, realizing that the writer has failed to develop the plot and the characters in such a way that their actions spring from their motivations. The term (pronounced DAY ihs ex MAHK in uh or DE ihs ex MAHK in uh) is usually used adverbially, as in The policeman arrived deus ex machina to overhear the murderer admit his guilt to his hostage. However, it can also refer to a character who becomes the "god from the machine."
Mask  Face covering with exaggerated features and a mouth device to project the voice. Greek actors wore masks to reveal emotion or personality; to depict the trade, social class or age of a character; and to provide visual and audio aids for audience members in the rear of the theater. 
Ode Poem sung in a play or a festival.
Old Comedy: a genre of plays in Greece of the Fifth Century, B.C. Old comedy displayed great imagination and used cutthroat satire, caricature, and sometimes vulgar dialogue to ridicule people, ideas, trends, and institutions. The Clouds, by Aristophanes, is an example of old comedy.
Onkos Headdress worn by some Greek actors to increase their height and, thus, visibility to theater audiences.
Orchestra See Theater, Greek.
Parabasis: an ode in which the chorus addresses the audience to express opinions of the author, including his views on politics, social trends, and other topics. In The Clouds, a comedy by Aristophanes, the chorus scolds the audience for its lukewarm reception of an earlier production of the play.
Paraskenia See Theater, Greek.
Parodos, or Parode See chorus. 
Periakti Prism having surfaces painted with pictures. When it revolved, it could change the scenery on a stage. 
Peripeteia In a tragedy, sudden reversal of fortune from good to bad.
Poetics Important work by Aristotle written about 335 B.C. It analyzes Greek theater and outlines its origin and development. One of its theses is that literature and other forms of art imitate the activity of humans. Tragedy is the higher form of the playwright's craft, Aristotle says, because it imitates the action of noble persons and depicts lofty events. Comedy, on the other hand, focuses on ordinary humans and events. 
Prologos: Prologue that begins the play with dialogue indicating the focus or theme of the play.
Proscenium See Theater, Greek.
Protagonist Main character in an ancient Greek play who usually interacts with the chorus. In a tragedy, the protagonist is traditionally a person of exalted status--such as a king, a queen, a political leader, or a military hero--who has a character flaw (inordinate pride, for example). This character flaw causes the protagonist to make an error of judgment. Additionally, the typical protagonist experiences a moment of truth in which he or she recognizes and acknowledges his or her mistakes, failures, or sins.
Skene See Theater, Greek.
Stasimon See chorus. 
Satire In Greek literature, a play or a passage in a play that pokes fun at public figures, institutions, ideas or the gods. An example of a satire is The Clouds, a comedy by Aristophanes.
Satyr play Play that pokes fun at a serious subject involving gods and myths; a parody of stories about gods or myths.  Fragments of Sophocles' satyr play Ichneutae (Trackers) survive along with his seven complete tragedies. 
Tetralogy Four plays (three tragedies and one satyr play) staged by a playwright during the drama competition each spring in honor of Dionysus.
Theater, Greek Open-air structure in which plays were performed. The stage faced the afternoon sunlight to illuminate a performance while allowing the audience to view the action without squinting. A Greek theater consisted of the following: 

.....Skene: Building behind the stage. First used as a dressing area for actors (and sometimes an
.....entrance or exit area for actors), the skene eventually became a background showing appropriate scenery.
.....Paraskenia: Extensions or annexes on the sides of the skene.
.....Proscenium: Acting area, or stage, in front of the skene.
.....Orchestra: Ground-level area where the chorus performed. It was in front of the proscenium. 
.....Parados: Passage on the left or right through which the chorus entered the orchestra.
.....Thymele: Altar in the center of the orchestra used to make sacrifices to Dionysus.
.....Theatron: Tiered seating area built into a hillside in the shape of a horseshoe.
.....Machine: Armlike device on the skene that could lower a "god" onto the stage from the heavens.
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Theatron Tiered seating area built into a hillside in the shape of a horseshoe.
Thespian Noun meaning actor or actress; adjective referring to any person or thing pertaining to Greek drama or drama in general. The word is derived from Thespis, the name of  a Greek of the 6th Century B.C. who was said to have been the first actor on the Greek stage. See also dithyramb.
Thymele See Theater, Greek.
Tragedy Verse drama written in elevated language in which a noble protagonist falls to ruin during a struggle caused by a flaw (hamartia) in his character or an error in his rulings or judgments. Following are the characteristics of a Sophocles tragedy: (1) It is based on events that already took place and with which the audience is familiar. (2) The protagonist is a person of noble stature. (3) The protagonist has a weakness and, because of it, becomes isolated and suffers a downfall. (4) Because the protagonist's fall is not entirely his or her own fault, the audience may end up pitying him or her. (5) The fallen protagonist gains self-knowledge. He has a deeper insight into himself and understands his weakness. (6) The audience undergoes catharsis, a purging of emotions, after experiencing pity, fear, shock and other strong feelings. The people go away feeling better. (7) The drama usually unfolds in one place in a short period of time, usually about a day.
Trilogy Group of three plays on a related subject or theme. 
Zeus King of the Olympian gods. 

Definition and Background

Zeus (Jupiter and Jove) King and protector of the gods and humankind. As ruler of the sky, he made rain and thunder and wielded lightning bolts. Zeus was the youngest son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea.
Hera (Juno) Queen of the gods and protector of marriage. She was the wife of Zeus and, as the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, also his sister.
Athena or Pallas Athena (Minerva) Goddess of wisdom and war. She was born fully grown in a suit of armor, issuing from the forehead of Zeus. The Greeks highly revered her and built many temples in her honor.
Ares (Mars) God of war and the son of Zeus and Hera. 
Poseidon (Neptune) God of the sea and brother of Zeus.
Hades (Pluto) God of the underworld and brother of Zeus.
Hephaestus (Vulcan) God of fire and metalwork who built the palaces in which the Olympian gods lived. He also forged their armor and made their jewelry. He was the son of Zeus and Hera.
Apollo, Phoebus Apollo, or Phoebus (Same as Greek Names) God of prophecy, music, poetry, and medicine. His alternate name, Phoebus, means brightness, and he was thus also considered the god of the sun. He was the son of Zeus and Leto, the daughter of Titans. The Greeks highly revered him and built many temples in his honor. One such temple at Delphi was the site of a famous oracle, the Pythia, who pronounced prophecies as the mouthpiece of Apollo.
Artemis (Diana) Goddess of the hunt. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto (see Apollo) and the twin sister of Apollo.
Aphrodite (Venus) Goddess of love and beauty. According to Homer, she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the daughter of a Titan; according to the Greek poet Hesiod, she was born from the foam of the sea. 
Hermes (Mercury) Messenger god who wore a winged hat and winged sandals. He was also the god of science, luck, commerce, and cunning. He was the son of Zeus and Maia, the daughter of a Titan.
Hestia (Vesta) Goddess of the home and hearth and sister of Zeus.

.......The Olympian gods lived in palaces constructed by Hephaestus on the summit of Mount Olympus, the highest peak (9,570 feet) in a mountain range between Macedonia and Thessaly near the Aegean Sea. Mount Olympus is sometimes called Upper Olympus because it lies just north of a lesser peak (5,210 feet) known as Lower Olympus. 
.......Minor goddesses called the Seasons maintained watch at the entranceway of Mount Olympus, a gate of clouds which opened and closed whenever a god left or returned to Olympus. 
.......In their lofty domain, the gods breathed only pure air, or ether. They took their meals in the palace of Zeus, eating ambrosia to sustain eternal life and drinking a delicious beverage called nectar, served by Hebe. Near the throne of Zeus sat lesser goddesses known as Muses, who were nine in number. They regaled the gathering with songs of the gods and of earthly heroes and history. These daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, learned under the tutelage of Apollo. 
.......Other lesser gods on Olympus included the following: (1) Eros (Cupid), god of love and son of Aphrodite who shot arrows that impregnated humans with love. (2) Iris, messenger goddess of Zeus and Hera who created rainbows when she flew across the sky. (3) Themis, a companion of Zeus who was the goddess of justice. She holds scales on which she weighs the claims in a suit of law. (4) The Charites, or Graces, goddesses of joy and beauty. (5) Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance and punishment. (6) Aidos, the goddess of conscience.

Literature and the Gods

.......Since ancient times, western literature has lived at the foot of Mount Olympus, the nearly two-mile high colossus that was believed to be home to important Greek gods. Writers of every age and every genre have invoked the magic of Olympus to make fire and thunder with words–or to perfume them with the breath of Venus.
.......The Greek writers Hesiod (born in the 7th or 8th Century B.C.) and Homer (born in the 8th or 9th Century B.C.) immortalized the Olympian gods–Hesiod in the Theogony and in Works and Days, Homer in The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Theogony presents a creation myth and a genealogy of the gods, along with accounts of their exploits. The Works and Days advises farmers how to prosper, through honest toil and righteous living, without incurring the disfavor of the gods. Homer’s Iliad tells the story of the final year of the Trojan War, between Greece and Troy, focusing on the greatest Greek warrior, Achilles, and on the machinations of Olympian gods who take sides and attempt to influence the outcome of the war. The Odyssey narrates the adventures of Odysseus (known as Ulysses to the Romans), a hero of the war who designed the famous Trojan horse to breach the walls of Troy, on his long sea voyage home after the war. While sailing home, the Olympian gods alternately help or hinder his progress. The Iliad and The Odyssey, both epic poems, are among the greatest works in world literature. 
.......Every great writer since Hesiod and Homer–including Sophocles, Vergil, Ovid, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton–has climbed Olympus to retrieve metaphorical divinities or one of their qualities to illumine, clarify, or beautify his or her language.
.......Though everlasting and supernal, the gods of Olympus exhibited humanlike behavior. They could be loving and generous, wise and forbearing. They could also be petty and base, fickle and vile. And, they could be quick to anger. In "Book I" of The Iliad, the Olympian god Apollo descends the great mountain in a rage after the Greek general Agamemnon captures a beautiful maiden and refuses to give her up to her father, Chryses, a priest of Apollo.

.......[Apollo] came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning. (English translation by Samuel Butler)

.......On this the gods gathered to the house of Vulcan. Earth-encircling Neptune came, and Mercury the bringer of luck, and King Apollo. . . . Then the givers of all good things stood in the doorway, and the blessed gods roared with inextinguishable laughter, as they saw how cunning Vulcan had been. . . . (English translation by Samuel Butler)

Allegory and the Tragic Chorus in Sophocles
Ancient Greek Theater: A Short Introduction
Ancient Sun, Modern Light: Greek Drama on the Modern Stage
Antigone, Women of Trachis, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus
Antigone: Readings
Barron's Book Notes: Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy
Blindness in a Culture of Light: Oedipus at Colonus
Bloom's Notes: Sophocles' Oedipus Plays
Bulfinch's Mythology
Complete Plays of Sophocles
Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes
Dictionary of Classical Mythology
Electra, Antigone, Philoctetes
Eyewitness: Ancient Greece
Greek Gods
Greek Myths, by Robert Graves
Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction
Heroes, Gods and Monsters of Greek Myths
Illustrated Wall Chart of Greek Myths
Images of the Greek Theatre
Language of Sophocles
Marriage in Sophoclean Tragedy
Modern Critical Views: Oedipus
Musical Design in Sophoclean Theater
Mythology: Tales of Gods and Heroes, by Edith Hamilton
Oedipus Cycle
Oedipus Cycle: Cliffs Notes
Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus: Evidence and Self-Conviction
Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life
Public and Performance in the Greek Theatre
Seal of Orestes: Self-Reference & Authority in Electra
Theatre in Ancient Greek Society
Tragedy: A Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy
Tragedy: Greek Tragedy in Action
Tragedy in Athens: Performance Space and Theatrical Meaning