sophocles: an interpretation

362 Pages·2012·6.77 MB·English

SOPHOCLES: AN INTERPRETATION

SOPHOCLES
AN INTERPRETATION
R. P. WINNINGTON-INGRAM
Formerly Professor of Greek Language and Literature in the
University of London (King's College)
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UNIVERSITY PRESS
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© Cambridge University Press 1980
First published 1980
Reprinted 1985,1990,1994,1998
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Winnington-Ingram, Reginald Pepys, 1904-
Sophocles: an interpretation.
Bibliography: p. ix
1. Sophocles - Criticism and interpretation
I.Title
PA4417.W55 882'.01 79-50511
ISBN 0 521 29684 6 paperback
CONTENTS
Preface vii
Bibliography of short titles ix
1 Introductory I
2 The mind of Ajax n
3 The burial of Ajax 57
4 Trachiniae 73
5 Sophocles and the irrational:
three odes in Antigone 91
6 Creon and Antigone 117
7 Fate in Sophocles 150
8 The fall of Oedipus 179
9 Furies in Sophocles 205
10 Electra 217
11 Oedipus at Colonus 248
12 Philoctetes 280
13 Heroes and gods 304
Appendices
A The Parodos of Trachiniae 330
B Trachiniae 248ft. 332
C Prometheus Vinctus 511-20 334
D The Parodos of Electra 335
E Locality in Oedipus Coloneus 339
F Philoctetes 419ff. 3 40
G The chronology of the plays 341
Select index 345

PREFACE
The main function of criticism is the interpretation of individual
works of art; and it is a primary concern of this book, by detailed
study, to interpret the seven extant tragedies of Sophocles, each in its
own unique form, quality and theme. Amid their variety, however,
resides an elusive unity. Sophocles being a dramatist whose mind and
vision are characteristic and, throughout a long career, remarkably
consistent. 'Sophoclean' is not an empty term, hard as it may be to
define, controversial as the tragic vision of this tragedian may be. It is,
therefore, my further aim to inject some (more or less) new ideas or
emphases into the general criticism of the author. This double aim has
determined the form, in some ways unusual, of the book.
It is addressed, primarily, to those who are already familiar with the
plays, but this does not mean classical scholars only. Except for
footnotes, virtually all Greek is translated or paraphrased or, in the
case of some words having thematic importance, transliterated. The
classical scholar will demand, rightly, that the problems of a difficult
text be faced: they are generally discussed in the footnotes which
proliferate, and which the non-specialist will, rightly, disregard. The
detailed arguments in the main body of the work will need no
apology for those who agree that interpretation must be closely based
upon the actual words of the poet.
I have read fairly widely in the modern critical literature of this
author, but cannot claim to have covered its vast range. I cite liberally
in footnotes works where some point of view receives cogent ex-
pression, but there may be many unacknowledged debts. One debt is
obvious and outstanding, which is to Jebb's great series of editions. I
pay tribute also to the careful scholarship of Bowra, to the zest of
Perrotta, to the sharp insights of Reinhardt, to the lucid analyses of
vii
Preface
Vlll
Linforth. Among living scholars, I owe more to Kitto and Knox than
may always appear: to Kitto for that sense of form which is as essential
to the critic of Greek poetry as it is to the musician, to both for the
dispersal of much cant and cliche.
On all seven plays I lectured at one or other of the three London
colleges in which I have taught: Birkbeck, Westfield, and King's.
This book is a direct product of those lectures. If I indulged myself
by exploring the plays in greater detail than the circumstances
demanded, the patience of my undergraduate audiences was exem-
plary. A graduate seminar in the University of Texas at Austin caused
me to rewrite an earlier draft on Ajax; and this I did in the congenial
environment of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, to
which I offer my warmest thanks. I am grateful to friends for criticism
and encouragement: to Professor Thomas Gould and Professor A. A.
Long who, respectively, read and commented upon earlier drafts of
Chapters 10 and 7; above all, to Mrs P. E. Easterling who saw every
chapter in draft and had the great kindness to read the proofs. Along
with my gratitude, I absolve them from all responsibility. To my
wife, who has endured some tedium, I owe, as so much else, my title.
Finally, it is no formality if I thank the staff of the Press for their skill
and consideration.
London, July 1979 R. P. WINNINGTON-INCRAM
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ix
x Bibliography of short titles
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