The Language of Sophocles

This book is a wide-ranging study of the language of the tragedian Sophocles. From a detailed analysis of sentence structure in the first chapter, it moves on to discuss how language shapes the perception of characters, of myths, of gods and of choruses. All chapters are united by a shared concern: how does Sophoclean language engage readers and spectators? Although the book focuses on the original Greek, translations make it accessible to anyone interested in Greek tragedy.

• Draws on all the plays of Sophocles
• Combines an interest in small-scale phenomena with wider interpretative matters like characters, gods and choruses
• Takes an approach different from that used in the past