Intended for the student and general reader, this close literary study of the most famous Greek tragedy combines scene-by-scene literary analysis with an account of the play's historical, intellectual, social, and mythical background. It traces adaptions of the play from Aristotle on to Freud, Levi-Strauss, Lacan and the most recent criticism. This second edition draws on new approaches to the study of Greek tragedy; discusses the most recent interpretative scholarship on the play; and contains an annotated up-to-date bibliography.