The name of Sophocles in ancient Greek literature is on a par with such great authors of his time as Aeschylus and Euripides. But unlike, for example, from Aeschylus, Sophocles in his tragedies talked about living people, depicting the real feelings of heroes, he conveyed the inner world of a person as he really was.
Sophocles filled his tragedies with human thoughts and experiences, rather than external attributes and the life of the gods. The man in the tragedies of Sophocles occupies a central place. A mistaken, imperfect, mistaken, but real, just such a person appears in Sophocles’s works “Hippolytus”, “Oedipus the King”, “Oedipus the King in Colon” and other tragedies.
About Sophocles
Sophocles was born under Athens, in the village of Colon. This place is famous for altars and altars dedicated to Athena, Demeter and Poseidon. The action of one of the tragedies that has come down to us, "Oedipus at Colon," Sophocles transfers to his hometown.
He comes from a wealthy family that gave him a wonderful education. Sophocles was twice elected commander of Athens and a member of the council for the allocation of treasury for various needs.
He considered writing tragedies for the theater of the city of Athens the most important goal in life. He competed with Aeschylus on the Athenian stage in the production of plays, and his first tragedies won a confident and unconditional victory over Aeschylus.
Sophocles wrote 123 tragedies, but only seven of his creations reached us:
- "King Oedipus";
- Oedipus at Colon;
- "Antigone";
- "Trahinyanki";
- Ajax
- Electra
- "Philoctetus."
Sophocles, according to Kefal ("The State", Plato), had a good character, was sociable and liked to make jokes, did not disdain entertainment, wine and other funs. He was friends with Herodotus.
Lived a long life and died at 90 years old. Buried in Athens. Residents of the city erected an altar in his honor and once a year glorified Sophocles, ranking him among the heroes.
Sophocles
Sophocles introduced a number of innovations in the stage production. Three actors began to play in the tragedy, and not two, as it was before. He increased the composition of the choir to 15 people, updated the scenery, slightly altered the masks. Another achievement of Sophocles is the reduction in the role of the choir in tragedies. This was done in order to give more time to the actors to reveal the thoughts and image of the character. These innovations made it possible to keep the viewer in constant tension during the performance.
Characteristic features of Sophocles:
- clash heroes with different visions of life or political structure (Oedipus and Creon);
- heroes can have the same views, but absolutely opposite characters;
- Sophocles skillfully conveys the mood of the heroes: first comes a surge of strength, and then lethargy or helplessness, for example, the image of Oedipus;
- dynamic dialogues, active action;
- natural heroes, circumstances as close as possible to real life;
- a person has the right to choose fate himself, and does not depend on the gods; they can only evaluate a person’s actions and then punish or reward a mortal.
The plot of the tragedy "Oedipus in Colon"
The tragedy is a continuation of the story of King Oedipus. The Oedipus at Colonus was set in 401 BC, when Sophocles was no longer alive. He wrote a tragedy when he was 90 years old, and did not live to see the premiere at the theater.
Oedipus blinded himself when he learned that the king of Lai, whom he had killed, was his father, and his wife was actually his mother. Oedipus leaves with his daughters to roam around Greece. He goes to the suburbs of Athens - Colon.
Oedipus makes a halt in the Erinius grove, where he demands a meeting with the ruler Theseus, because the townspeople do not want to let Oedipus into the city. They are afraid that he will call troubles on Athens and the gods will curse the city.
Ismen, the daughter of Oedipus, appears on the scene. She tells him that one of his sons, Etheocles, overthrew the other son, Polinic, from the throne of Thebes. She asks her father to support Polynic, because the outcome of the confrontation between the brothers depends on where Oedipus will be buried. When Ismena leaves, Theseus replaces her. He supports the king of Oedipus, promises any help and rewards the blind Oedipus with the citizenship of Athens.
Oedipus goes to the temple of Poseidon to meet his son Polynik. The son asks his father for help to take Thebes. Oedipus refuses his son and predict that both his sons will fall from wounds that will inflict one another. Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, begs Polynic not to attack Thebes, but her brother does not listen to her.
There are sounds of thunder. Oedipus anticipates his death and, accompanied by Theseus, leaves the children. Oedipus asks Theseus to keep his burial place a secret. This secret should be passed on to Theseus's heirs.
At the end of the production, the daughter of Oedipus is tearfully asked to indicate where the king is buried. Theseus is silent and does not want to reveal the truth to them. He sends the daughters of Oedipus to Thebes.
Modern productions
The most striking contemporary performances "Oedipus Rex" and "Oedipus at Colon" were staged in Argentina and Russia.
The Columbus Theater in Buenos Aires, or the Colὸn Theater, staged the opera Oedipus in its grand hall. Stage director Alex Olli invited viewers to reflect on the timeless themes Sophocles talks about. The opera was a joint project of the Columbus Theater, the Royal Theater La Monnaie from Brussels, the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) and the National Opera (Paris, France). The music of the Romanian Enescu, written for the premiere in the Paris opera of 1935, combines modern motifs and classical sound.
In 2016, the Vakhtangov Theater, with the support of the National Theater of Greece, staged a performance in the Greek amphitheater Epidaurus. Oedipus was put by Rimas Tuminas. Greek and Russian public welcomed the performance with positive reviews. Russian actors and the Greek choir, which sang in the original language, impressed many viewers.
Production by Andrei Konchalovsky
The modern sounding of the story of Tsar Oedipus received in the play of Andrei Konchalovsky. Oedipus at Colon was staged in 2014 at the Olimpico Theater (Vicenza, Italy), and on March 24, 2018, at the Bolshoi Theater (St. Petersburg, Russia).
The modern picture appears before the audience: Oedipus resembles a homeless person, Antigone wanders dejectedly behind him. The appearance of the characters corresponds to their social status: worn jeans with holes, long dirty hair, greasy shirts. Behind them they carry a cart for products from the supermarket. It’s hard not to understand the products in the trolley, but things whether they are dirty or not.
Antigone is played by actress Julia Vysotskaya, the director’s wife. She is the eyes of Oedipus, without the help of her daughter, the king could not have traveled such long distances. Julia Vysotskaya admitted to reporters that she put a lot of effort into the image of Antigone, passion and feelings.
The director wants to convey his idea of fate, life and death with words that are understandable to modern man. Andrei Konchalovsky sought to show a person and his thoughts at the time of transition to another world.
Andrei Konchalovsky said it’s not as easy to stage Sophocles on stage as Chekhov or other playwrights. In the director’s view, tragedy reveals a modern view in thoughts and feelings, and clothing is just an external attribute.
Reviews from viewers and critics about the production of Andrei Konchalovsky
The premiere of the 2018 production of the last days of Oedipus's life caused different emotions among the audience and theater critics.
According to reviews, the performance "Oedipus in the Colon" by Andrei Konchalovsky was liked by the audience. Each has its own tastes, someone loves the classics and does not approve of modern productions, or vice versa. But most reviews of Oedipus at Colonus are positive. If we summarize all the opinions, we can conclude that the people watched the performance in one breath. It changes the idea of life, makes you think about the eternal questions of being, and at the end you feel that you have not wasted your time. Many theatergoers come to the show specially from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
The opinion of critics about the play "Oedipus in Colon" is the opposite of the audience, but they are also critics. The main disadvantages of the performance are considered poor plasticity, poor quality of humor at the level of KVN, the emphasis in action was on Yulia Vysotskaya, for whom the performance was put (the opinion of critics), and there are no thoughts at all and there is no place for them to come from.
Well, in order to make your own opinion about the production of Konchalovsky, it is better to go to the play.