Oedipus
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few myths have gripped the human imagination as tenaciously as the cursed lineage of Oedipus, and Henry Treece's powerful retelling brings the doomed King of Thebes to vivid, visceral life. Set against the sun-scorched landscape of ancient Greece, this novel chronicles the tragic arc of a man ensnared by fate — abandoned at birth, rising to kingship, and ultimately destroyed by the terrible truth of his own origins. Treece transforms the bones of Sophoclean tragedy into a compelling narrative of prophecy, hubris, and inevitable ruin, presenting Oedipus not as a distant mythological figure but as a man of flesh, ambition, and anguish. Treece, celebrated for his ability to animate the ancient world with authenticity and urgency, constructs a prose style that is both lyrical and unflinching, capturing the brutal grandeur of Bronze Age civilisation. Oedipus sits firmly within the tradition of mid-twentieth-century historical fiction that sought to humanise the classical world, stripping away its marble veneer to reveal the raw passions beneath. For readers drawn to stories of power, fate, and the inescapable weight of the past, this retelling poses an enduring question: if the gods have already written your story, does your own courage — or blindness — change a single word of it?
Author: Henry Treece
Format: Paperback
Genre: Historical fiction
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few myths have gripped the human imagination as tenaciously as the cursed lineage of Oedipus, and Henry Treece's powerful retelling brings the doomed King of Thebes to vivid, visceral life. Set against the sun-scorched landscape of ancient Greece, this novel chronicles the tragic arc of a man ensnared by fate — abandoned at birth, rising to kingship, and ultimately destroyed by the terrible truth of his own origins. Treece transforms the bones of Sophoclean tragedy into a compelling narrative of prophecy, hubris, and inevitable ruin, presenting Oedipus not as a distant mythological figure but as a man of flesh, ambition, and anguish. Treece, celebrated for his ability to animate the ancient world with authenticity and urgency, constructs a prose style that is both lyrical and unflinching, capturing the brutal grandeur of Bronze Age civilisation. Oedipus sits firmly within the tradition of mid-twentieth-century historical fiction that sought to humanise the classical world, stripping away its marble veneer to reveal the raw passions beneath. For readers drawn to stories of power, fate, and the inescapable weight of the past, this retelling poses an enduring question: if the gods have already written your story, does your own courage — or blindness — change a single word of it?