Sophocles: Antigone

Sophocles

Cambridge University Press, Sep 9, 1999 - Literary Collections - 366 pages

In this new edition of Sophocles' tragedy Antigone, Mark Griffith combines sophisticated literary and cultural interpretation with close attention to language, meter, and issues of performance, and thus makes the play more fully available to readers of Greek than ever before. The introduction requires no knowledge of Greek and will interest all students of drama and literature.

Contents

• III: 1
• IV: 4
• V: 12
• VI: 21
• VII: 25
• VIII: 26
• IX: 28
• X: 34
• XI: 43
• XII: 54
• XIII: 58
• XIV: 66
• XV: 69
• XVI: 71
• XVII: 119
• XVIII: 356
• XIX: 363

About the author

The Greek dramatist Sophocles, born to a wealthy family at Colonus, near Athens, was admired as a boy for his personal beauty and musical skill. He served faithfully as a treasurer and general for Athens when it was expanding its empire and influence. In the dramatic contests, he defeated Aeschylus in 468 b.c. for first prize in tragedy, wrote a poem to Herodotus (see Vol. 3), and led his chorus and actors in mourning for Euripides just a few months before his own death. He wrote approximately 123 plays, of which 7 tragedies are extant, as well as a fragment of his satiric play, Ichneutae (Hunters). His plays were produced in the following order: Ajax (c.450 b.c.), Antigone (441 b.c.), Oedipus Tyrannus (c.430 b.c.), Trachiniae (c.430 b.c.), Electra (between 418 and 410 b.c.), Philoctetes (409 b.c.), and Oedipus at Colonus (posthumously in 401 b.c.). With Sophocles, Greek tragedy reached its most characteristic form. He added a third actor, made each play independent---that is, not dependent on others in a trilogy---increased the numbers of the chorus, introduced the use of scenery, shifted the focus from religious to more philosophical issues, and brought language and characters, though still majestic, nearer to everyday life. His finely delineated characters are responsible for the tragedy that befalls them, and they accept it heroically. Aristotle (see Vols. 3, 4, and 5) states that Sophocles said he portrayed people as they ought to be; Euripides, as they are. His utter command of tragic speech in the simple grandeur of his choral odes, dialogues, and monologues encourages the English reader to compare him to Shakespeare (see Vol. 1).

Mark Griffith is a Fellow and Tutor in English at New College, Oxford.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Sophocles: Antigone; Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics
• Author: Sophocles
• Editor: Mark Griffith
• Compiled by: Mark Griffith
• Edition: reprint, annotated
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1999
• ISBN: 0521337011, 9780521337014
• Length: 366 pages
• Subjects: Drama / Ancient & Classical; Drama / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / General; Literary Collections / Ancient & Classical; Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical