[PDF] The Design Directory of Bedding by Jackie Von Tobel at Arts-Photography

Description

Much has been written about the heroic figures of Sophocles powerful dramas. Now Charles Segal focuses our attention not on individual heroes and heroines; but on the world that inspired and motivated their actions--a universe of family; city; nature; and the supernatural. He shows how these ancient masterpieces offer insight into the abiding question of tragedy: how one can make sense of a world that involves so much apparently meaningless violence and suffering.In a series of engagingly written interconnected essays; Segal studies five of Sophocles seven extant plays: Ajax; Oedipus Tyrannus; Philoctetes; Antigone; and the often neglected Trachinian Women. He examines the language and structure of the plays from several interpretive perspectives; drawing both on traditional philological analysis and on current literary and cultural theory. He pays particular attention to the mythic and ritual backgrounds of the plays; noting Sophocles reinterpretation of the ancient myths. His delineation of the heroes and their tragedies encompasses their relations with city and family; conflicts between men and women; defiance of social institutions; and the interaction of society; nature; and the gods. Segals analysis sheds new light on Sophocles plays--among the most widely read works of classical literature--and on their implications for Greek views on the gods; moral life; and sexuality.