Three Tragedies: Antigone, Oedipus the King & Electra

Faithful as translations and vigorous and straightforward both to read and to act, these versions were written, like their originals, for immediate staage-production.

Kitto has deliberately used a fairly strict meter, allowing himself no greater number of verses than Sophocles used, and where the original is formal–as in the line-by-line dialogue–the translations too are formal. The original rhythmic structure of the lyrics has been approximately represented;
in the Antigone the lyric passages have been followed as closely as the English language permits.

Quasi-musical indications of tempo or mood have been added to the lyrical portions as a reminder that they were not recited but were a fusion of poetry, music, and dancing. There are brief notes on the dance-rhythms, on the pronunciation of Greek names, and on the mythological allusions in the
three plays.