What do you think?
Rate this book
Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture
Sophocles and the Language of Tragedy
Written by one of the best-known interpreters of classical literature today, Sophocles and the Language of Tragedy presents a revolutionary take on the work of this great classical playwright and on how our understanding of tragedy has been shaped by our literary past. Simon Goldhill sheds new light on Sophocles' distinctive brilliance as a dramatist, illuminating such aspects of his work as his manipulation of irony, his construction of dialogue, and his deployment of the actors and the chorus. Goldhill also investigates how nineteenth-century critics like Hegel, Nietzsche, and Wagner developed a specific understanding of tragedy, one that has shaped our current approach to the genre. Finally, Goldhill addresses one of the foundational questions of literary how historically self-conscious should a reading of Greek tragedy be? The result is an invigorating and exciting new interpretation of the most canonical of Western authors.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 4, 2012
1 person is currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Simon Goldhill
61 books20 followersSimon David Goldhil is Professor in Greek literature and culture and fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at King's College, Cambridge. He was previously Director of Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge, succeeding Mary Jacobus in October 2011. He is best known for his work on Greek tragedy.
In 2009, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, he was appointed as the John Harvard Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences at Cambridge, a research position held concurrently with his chair in Greek.
In 2016, he became a fellow of the British Academy. He is a member of the Council of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes, and is President of the European Institutes for Advanced Study (NetIAS).
Goldhill is a well-known lecturer and broadcaster and has appeared on television and radio in England, Australia, the United States and Canada. His books have been translated into ten languages, and he has been profiled by newspapers in Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands.
In 2009, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, he was appointed as the John Harvard Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences at Cambridge, a research position held concurrently with his chair in Greek.
In 2016, he became a fellow of the British Academy. He is a member of the Council of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes, and is President of the European Institutes for Advanced Study (NetIAS).
Goldhill is a well-known lecturer and broadcaster and has appeared on television and radio in England, Australia, the United States and Canada. His books have been translated into ten languages, and he has been profiled by newspapers in Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 6, 2021
There was much in this book I found enjoyable and informative. Much was beyond understanding of criticism. At times I simply longed for a clear, simple example rather than a verbose run-on sentence (must everyone be Harold Bloom? Smarter than me and eager to show it)
But most importantly, I came away with a better understanding and appreciation of three of Sophocles' great tragedies; The Antigone, The Electra and the Philoctetes. Especially rewarding was the presentation of sections of dialogue in classical Greek, a translation and Goldhill's analysis.
While the second half of the book was at least three semesters removed from anything I could fully comprehend I did find value in the history/evolution of Greek criticism from the 1800s into the 1900s. The way academics and the producers of plays viewed Antigone and Electra, how they melded tragedy into their place in history and culture was fascinating. The idea that we generalize the tragic and the Greeks did not was new for me.
Goldhill's last chapter, his Coda, certainly made me consider how I evaluate/appreciate a Greek Tragedy as a person born in the 20th Century, living in the 21st, white and male, a resident of an affluent nation and a product of an modern education that placed little value on the classics. I naturally experience reading the the play from my place in history. Goldhill made me realize that I understand Antigone's challenge to Creon as someone who views are colored by, say, the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. It will take me, as a reader, to make a conscious effort to think about what an Athenian 2,400 years ago might have thought returning home from the Parthenia after hearing the voice of a women challenging authority. Was it fear, was it anger, was it a "pious" appreciation for putting god and family over country, or was it a pride that democracy can include pocking a finger in the eye of the man?
But most importantly, I came away with a better understanding and appreciation of three of Sophocles' great tragedies; The Antigone, The Electra and the Philoctetes. Especially rewarding was the presentation of sections of dialogue in classical Greek, a translation and Goldhill's analysis.
While the second half of the book was at least three semesters removed from anything I could fully comprehend I did find value in the history/evolution of Greek criticism from the 1800s into the 1900s. The way academics and the producers of plays viewed Antigone and Electra, how they melded tragedy into their place in history and culture was fascinating. The idea that we generalize the tragic and the Greeks did not was new for me.
Goldhill's last chapter, his Coda, certainly made me consider how I evaluate/appreciate a Greek Tragedy as a person born in the 20th Century, living in the 21st, white and male, a resident of an affluent nation and a product of an modern education that placed little value on the classics. I naturally experience reading the the play from my place in history. Goldhill made me realize that I understand Antigone's challenge to Creon as someone who views are colored by, say, the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. It will take me, as a reader, to make a conscious effort to think about what an Athenian 2,400 years ago might have thought returning home from the Parthenia after hearing the voice of a women challenging authority. Was it fear, was it anger, was it a "pious" appreciation for putting god and family over country, or was it a pride that democracy can include pocking a finger in the eye of the man?
Displaying 1 of 1 review