{"product_id":"the-throne-of-labdacus-gjertrud-schnackenberg-9780374527969","title":"The Throne of Labdacus: A Poem","description":"\u003cp\u003eWinner of the 2001 \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize in Poetry.\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of 2000. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe first warning passing through Thebes--\u003cbr\u003eAs small a sound \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs a housefly alighting from Persia\u003cbr\u003eAnd stamping its foot on a mound \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhere the palace once was;\u003cbr\u003eAs small a moth chewing thread \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the tyrant's robe;\u003cbr\u003eAs small as the cresting of red \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the rim of an injured eye; as small\u003cbr\u003eAs the sound of a human conceived \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA compelling, lyric telling of the story of Oedipus, and of what happens outside the play, in the experience of the god who is its presiding oracle: Apollo, the god of poetry, music, and healing. Given the task of setting the Sophocles text to music, the god is woven reluctantly into its world of riddles, unanswered questions, partially disclosed objects, and ambiguous second-hand reports--a world where the gods, as much as humans, are subject to the binding claims of fate and necessity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGjertrud Schnackenberg draws upon ancient fragments and allusions to Oedipus and upon folk-tales about the origin of the Greek alphabet to present a vision of the tragedy's essential unknowableness, where the destinies of gods and humans secretly mingle in the unfolding of time, and where Zeus's laws, which suffuse the great tragedy's world, are as invisible and as inviolable as physical laws.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gjertrud Schnackenberg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0374527962\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374527969\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar, Strauss \u0026amp; Giroux-3pl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/07\/2001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 112\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.34lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.70h x 5.43w x 0.28d","brand":"Gjertrud Schnackenberg","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43919608545535,"sku":"9780374527969","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_1a7f03ca-e06c-454f-bce1-898b327d0383.jpg?v=1680810335","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-throne-of-labdacus-gjertrud-schnackenberg-9780374527969","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}