Antigone

"Woodruff's work with Peter Meineck makes this text one that is accessible to today's students and could be staged for modern audiences. Line notes printed at the bottom of the page bring a reader further quick assistance. . . .

"The choral odes as rendered here deserve special notice. After giving a succinct analysis of each in his introduction, Woodruff translates the lyrics into English that is both poetic and comprehensible. . . . Woodruff's rendering of the dialogue moves along easily; these are lines that any contemporary Antigone, Creon or Haemon might speak. Antigone's words on the gods' unwritten laws keep close to the Greek and yet would be authentic for a modern speaker. . . .

"Woodruff's introduction is a strong, clear, and clever blend of basic traditional information (to those who know Greek tragedy) and fresh insights. . . .

"Should our drama department ask for my advice as to a playable text, I would certainly suggest Woodruff's new version."
-Karelisa Hartigan, The Classical Bulletin

"A lucid, well-paced translation, natural enough sounding in the dialogue to make a good acting version, and remarkably successful in making the choruses clear, lyrical, and yet part of the dramatic movement. Woodruff's rendering of the choruses especially impresses me by the way he manages to render complex syntax and imagery of the original- often tangled and occasionally obscure in its allusiveness-into clear and genuinely poetic English."
-Joseph Russo, Haverford College

Paul Woodruff is Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.