A Companion To Sophocles

A Companion to Sophocles presents the first comprehensive collection of essays in decades to address all aspects of the life, works, and critical reception of Sophocles. First collection of its kind to provide introductory essays to the fragments of his lost plays and to the remaining fragments of one satyr-play, the Ichneutae, in addition to each of his extant tragedies Features new essays on Sophoclean drama that go well beyond the current state of scholarship on Sophocles Presents readings that historicize Sophocles in relation to the social, cultural, and intellectual world of fifth century Athens Seeks to place later interpretations and adaptations of Sophocles in their historical context Includes essays dedicated to issues of gender and sexuality; significant moments in the history of interpreting Sophocles; and reception of Sophocles by both ancient and modern playwrights

Brill's Companion to Sophocles offers 32 specially commissioned essays from leading international scholars which give critical examinations of the progress and direction of numerous wide-ranging debates about various aspects of Sophoclean drama. Each chapter offers an authoritative and state-of-the-art survey of current thinking and research in a particular subject area, as well as covering a wide variety of thematic angles. Recent advances in scholarship have raised new questions about Sophocles and Greek tragedy, and have overturned some long-standing assumptions. Besides presenting a comprehensive and authoritative guide to understanding Sophocles, this companion provides scholars and students with compelling fresh perspectives upon a broad range of issues in the field of Sophoclean studies.

A Companion to Sophocles presents the first comprehensive collection of essays in decades to address all aspects of the life, works, and critical reception of Sophocles. First collection of its kind to provide introductory essays to the fragments of his lost plays and to the remaining fragments of one satyr-play, the Ichneutae, in addition to each of his extant tragedies Features new essays on Sophoclean drama that go well beyond the current state of scholarship on Sophocles Presents readings that historicize Sophocles in relation to the social, cultural, and intellectual world of fifth century Athens Seeks to place later interpretations and adaptations of Sophocles in their historical context Includes essays dedicated to issues of gender and sexuality; significant moments in the history of interpreting Sophocles; and reception of Sophocles by both ancient and modern playwrights

Brill's Companion to the Reception of Sophocles offers a comprehensive account of the reception of Sophocles’ plays over the centuries, across cultures and within a range of different fields, such as literature, intellectual history, visual arts, music, dance, stage and cinema.

As a creative medium, ancient Greek tragedy has had an extraordinarily wide influence: many of the surviving plays are still part of the theatrical repertoire, and texts like Agamemnon, Antigone, and Medea have had a profound effect on Western culture. This Companion is not a conventional introductory textbook but an attempt, by seven distinguished scholars, to present the familiar corpus in the context of modern reading, criticism, and performance of Greek tragedy. There are three main emphases: on tragedy as an institution in the civic life of ancient Athens, on a range of different critical interpretations arising from fresh readings of the texts, and on changing patterns of reception, adaptation, and performance from antiquity to the present. Each chapter can be read independently, but each is linked with the others, and most examples are drawn from the same selection of plays.

Brill's Companion to the Reception of Euripides offers a comprehensive account of the reception of Euripides’ plays over the centuries, across cultures and within a range of different fields, such as literature, intellectual history, visual arts, music, dance, stage and cinema.

A Companion to Tragedy is an essential resource for anyone interested in exploring the role of tragedy in Western history and culture. Tells the story of the historical development of tragedy from classical Greece to modernity Features 28 essays by renowned scholars from multiple disciplines, including classics, English, drama, anthropology and philosophy Broad in its scope and ambition, it considers interpretations of tragedy through religion, philosophy and history Offers a fresh assessment of Ancient Greek tragedy and demonstrates how the practice of reading tragedy has changed radically in the past two decades

Marriage is a central concern in five of the seven extant plays of the Greek tragedian Sophocles. In this pathfinding study, Kirk Ormand delves into the ways in which these plays represent and problematize marriage, thus offering insights into how Athenians thought about the institution of marriage. Ormand takes a two-fold approach. He first explores the legal and economic underpinnings of Athenian marriage, an institution designed to guarantee the legitimate continuation of patrilineal households. He then shows how Sophocles' plays Trachiniae, Electra, Antigone, Ajax, and Oedipus Tyrannus both reinforce and critique this ideology by representing marriage as a homosocial exchange between men, in which women are objects who may attempt—but always fail—to become self-acting subjects. These fresh readings provide the first systematic study of marriage in Sophocles. They draw important connections between drama and marriage as rituals concerned with controlling potentially disruptive female subjectivities.