The Language of Sophocles
Communality, Communication and Involvement

A wide-ranging 1999 investigation of how Sophoclean language engages readers and spectators.

Felix Budelmann (Author)

9780521660402, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 November 1999

308 pages
22.4 x 14.6 x 2.1 cm, 0.54 kg

'… certainly a useful addition to scholarship … an interesting and sometimes thought-provoking study.' Mouseion, Journal of the Classical Association of Canada

This 1999 book is a wide-ranging study of Sophoclean language. From a detailed analysis of sentence-structure in the first chapter, it moves on to discuss in subsequent chapters how language shapes the perception of characters, of myths, of gods and of choruses. All chapters are united by a shared concern: how does Sophoclean language engage readers and spectators? In answering this question, The Language of Sophocles avoids the current emphasis on cultural specificity. Instead, it concentrates on those aspects of Sophoclean language which can engage a large number of different spectators and readers. With this change in emphasis, this study is able to offer various fresh observations about the workings of Sophoclean language. Although the book focuses on the original Greek, translations make it accessible to anybody interested in Greek tragedy.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Sentences: a shared world
2. Characters: a shared perspective
3. Myth and prophecy: shared order
4. Gods: a shared future
5. The chorus: shared survival
Short titles of editions and works of reference
Bibliography
General index
Index of passages discussed.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]