Sophocles and Alcibiades : Athenian politics in ancient Greek literature / Michael Vickers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vickers, Michael J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sophocles--Characters.

Sophocles.

Alcibiades--In literature.

Alcibiades.

Sophocles--Criticism and interpretation.

Politics in literature.

Greek drama (Tragedy)--History and criticism.

Greek drama (Tragedy).

Greek literature--History and criticism.

Greek literature.

Athens (Greece)--In literature.

Athens (Greece).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 205 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Sophocles & Alcibiades

Place of Publication:

Durham : Acumen Publishing, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Literary historians have long held the view that the plays of the Greek dramatist, Sophocles deal purely with archetypes of the heroic past and that any resemblance to contemporary events or individuals is purely coincidental. In this book Michael Vickers challenges this view and argues that Sophocles makes regular and extensive allusion to Athenian politics in his plays, especially to Alcibiades, one of the most controversial Athenian politicians of his day. Vickers shows that Sophocles was no closeted intellectual but a man deeply involved in politics and he reminds us that Athenian politics was intensely personal. He argues cogently that classical writers employed hidden meanings and that consciously or sub-consciously, Sophocles was projecting onto his plays hints of contemporary events or incidents, mostly of a political nature, hoping that his audience’s passion for politics would enhance the popularity of his plays.

Contents:

The mythologizing of history

Antigone, Pericles and Alcibiades

Oedipus Tyrannus, Alcibiades, Cleon and Aspasia

Ajax, Alcibiades and Andocides

Philoctetes, Alcibiades, Andocides and Pericles

Alcibiades in exile : Euripides' Cyclops

Oedipus at Colonus, Alcibiades and Critias

Critias and Alcibiades : Euripides' Bacchae

Alcibiades and Melos : Thucydides 5.84-116

Thucydides on tyrannicides : not a "digression"

Alcibiades and Persia (and more Thucydidean "digressions")

Alcibiades and Critias in the Gorgias: Plato's "fine satire."

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

ISBN:

1-317-49291-9

1-317-49292-7

1-315-71176-1

1-282-94727-3

9786612947278

1-84465-406-0

9781315711768

OCLC:

898104242