
The Heroic Temper
Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy
Bernard M. W. Knox(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 4. May 1983
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-520-04957-4 (ISBN)
Description
The first two chapters of this book isolate and describe the literary phenomenon of the Sophoclean tragic hero. In all but one of the extant Sophoclean dramas, a heroic figure who is compounded of the same literary elements faced a situation which is essentially the same. The demonstration of this recurrent pattern is made not through character-analysis, but through a close examination of the language employed by both the hero and those with whom he contends. The two chapters attempt to present what might, with a slight exaggeration, be called the 'formula' of Sophoclean tragedy. A great artist may repeat a structural pattern but he never really repeats himself. In the remaining four chapters, a close analysis of three plays, the Antigone, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus, emphasizes the individuality and variety of the living figures Sophocles created on the same basic armature.
This approach to Sophoclean drama is (as in the author's previous work on the subject) both historical and critical; the universal and therefore contemporary appeal of the plays is to be found not by slighting or dismissing their historical context, but by an attempt to understand it all in its complexity. 'The play needs to be seen as what it was, to be understood as what it is'.
This approach to Sophoclean drama is (as in the author's previous work on the subject) both historical and critical; the universal and therefore contemporary appeal of the plays is to be found not by slighting or dismissing their historical context, but by an attempt to understand it all in its complexity. 'The play needs to be seen as what it was, to be understood as what it is'.
More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
272 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-04957-4 (9780520049574)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2020
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€30.99
Available for download
Person
Bernard M. W. Knox, Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, D.C., was formerly Professor of Classics at Yale University. He is the author of numerous articles and monographs including The Serpent and the Flame, and Oedipus at Thebes.
Content
I The Sophoclean Hero 1
II The Sophoclean Hero 2
III Antigone 1
IV Antigone 2
V Philoctetes I
VI Oedipus at Colonus
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Names and Selected Topics
Index of Greek Words Discussed
II The Sophoclean Hero 2
III Antigone 1
IV Antigone 2
V Philoctetes I
VI Oedipus at Colonus
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Names and Selected Topics
Index of Greek Words Discussed