This book examines Sophocles' handling of the chorus in his seven extant tragedies. This aspect of his art was chosen two reasons, first because in many of the most important books on Sophoclean drama his treatment of the chorus has not received the attention it deserves, and secondly because this traditional element in Greek Tragedy strikes modern taste as its strangest and least intelligible feature. A chapter is devoted to each play so that each chapter may be read separately in conjunction with the Greek text. Each chapter tries to define the personality and status of the chorus chosen by the dramatist, to consider their use both as singers and actors, and to trace the developments in his treatment of their role in so far as this is possible from the evidence of seven plays whose composition appears to have been spread over a period of some forty years

In this book, Roger Travis brings together poetics and psychology to study the tragic chorus in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus. Beginning from Quintilian's definition of allegory as extended metaphor, Travis argues that in Oedipus at Colonus the chorus of old men forms an allegorical relationship with the aged Oedipus, which depends in turn upon the chorus's own likeness to the Athenian audience. The play relates Oedipus allegorically to the audience through the tragic chorus and transforms Oedipus' relation to the body of his mother Jocasta into a new relation to the land of Attica. Corresponding readings of Aeschylus' Suppliants and Euripides' Bacchea further explore the chorus's role in expressing the relation of the individual to the maternal body. Employing a flexible combination of Lacanian and object-relations psychoanalytic theory, Travis investigates the tragic text's conception of the problems of human existence. The introduction provides a useful survey of the advantages and disadvantages of various psychological approaches to tragedy, making this an important volume for students and scholars alike.

This book examines Sophocles' handling of the chorus in his seven extant tragedies. This aspect of his art was chosen two reasons, first because in many of the most important books on Sophoclean drama his treatment of the chorus has not received the attention it deserves, and secondly because this traditional element in Greek Tragedy strikes modern taste as its strangest and least intelligible feature. A chapter is devoted to each play so that each chapter may be read separately in conjunction with the Greek text. Each chapter tries to define the personality and status of the chorus chosen by the dramatist, to consider their use both as singers and actors, and to trace the developments in his treatment of their role in so far as this is possible from the evidence of seven plays whose composition appears to have been spread over a period of some forty years

Written by one of the best-known interpreters of classical literature today, Sophocles and the Language of Tragedy presents a revolutionary take on the work of this great classical playwright and on how our understanding of tragedy has been shaped by our literary past. Simon Goldhill sheds new light on Sophocles' distinctive brilliance as a dramatist, illuminating such aspects of his work as his manipulation of irony, his construction of dialogue, and his deployment of the actors and the chorus. Goldhill also investigates how nineteenth-century critics like Hegel, Nietzsche, and Wagner developed a specific understanding of tragedy, one that has shaped our current approach to the genre. Finally, Goldhill addresses one of the foundational questions of literary criticism: how historically self-conscious should a reading of Greek tragedy be? The result is an invigorating and exciting new interpretation of the most canonical of Western authors.

This anthology collects some of the most important plays by Ancient Greek tragedians, in updated translations with new introductions. Greek Tragedies, Volume III presents some of the finest and most fundamental works of Western dramatic literature. It draws together plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides from Chicago’s acclaimed nine-volume series, Complete Greek Tragedies. This third edition updates the translations to bring them even closer to the ancient Greek while retaining the vibrancy for which they are famous. New introductions for each play provide essential information about the production histories and the stories themselves. This volume contains Aeschylus’s “The Eumenides,” translated by Richmond Lattimore; Sophocles’s “Philoctetes,” translated by David Grene; Sophocles’s “Oedipus at Colonus,” translated by Robert Fitzgerald; Euripides’s “The Bacchae,” translated by William Arrowsmith; and Euripides’s “Alecestis,” translated by Richmond Lattimore.

This original and distinctive verse translation of four of Sophocles' plays conveys the vitality of his poetry and the vigour of the plays as performed showpieces, encouraging the reader to relish the sound of the spoken verse and the potential for song within the lyrics.

This book offers a new translation of the ancient Greek tragedies of Sophocles, accompanied by a biographical essay and a selection of rhymed choral odes and lyrical dialogues. The translations convey the emotional depth and beauty of Sophocles' plays, while the additional material provides historical and cultural context. This book is a must-read for lovers of classical literature and ancient Greek drama. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Presents translations of five Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.