The Plays of Sophocles: (Classical World)

The emphasis throughout this book, ideal for sixth form and early university students, is on Sophocles' tragic thinking, on the concept of the 'Sophoclean hero', and on the dramatic structure of the plays. The seven extant plays, Ajax, Women of Trachis, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus are assessed and a brief concluding chapter draws together what has been said in the seven studies. This second edition has been revised fully, with an updated further reading list and more detailed information on the chorus and staging of the plays. The aim of the book is to help readers to understand why Sophocles is still worth reading, or going to see in the theatre, in the 21st century, and to show how far Sophoclean scholarship has moved in recent decades from the once prevalent view that he was a pious religious conformist who had nothing very profound or original to say, but who said it very beautifully. The volume is a companion to The Plays of Euripides (by James Morwood) and The Plays of Aeschylus (by Alex Garvie) also available in second editions from Bloomsbury. A further essential guide to the themes and context of ancient Greek tragedy may be found in Laura Swift's new introductory volume, Greek Tragedy.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Chronology Ajax Women of Trachis Antigone Oedipus the King Electra Philoctetes Oedipus at Colonus Epilogue Suggestions for Further Reading Glossary Index

About the Author :
Alex Garvie is Emeritus Professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow, UK. He is the author of Aeschylus Supplices: Play and Trilogy (1969, 2nd edition 2006); of editions of Aeschylus' Choephori (1986) and Persae(2009); Homer's Odyssey VI-VIII (1994); Sophocles's Ajax (1998) and a companion volume to this book, The Plays of Sophocles (2nd edition, Bloomsbury, 2016).

Review :
This second edition of Garvie's introduction to Sophocles is an essential read for sixth form and undergraduate students. It provides important information and analysis in an easy-to-read style which is accessible to a wide audience. This is a superb introduction to Sophocles. Alex Garvie offers an up-to-date and compelling case for the dramatic power and moral complexity of these ancient tragedies and their headstrong hero(in)es. Each play is presented and analyzed with admirable clarity and concision. This is an excellent brief introduction to Sophocles, which packs a lot into less than a hundred pages. It is lively and up-to-date, and offers reliable and well-informed discussions of Sophocles' seven surviving plays. Garvie has many good ideas of his own, especially about staging. He is an ideal guide to these great plays.