Greek Tragic Style: Form, Language and Interpretation
Author(s): R. B. Rutherford (Author)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 10 May 2012
Language: English
Print length: 492 pages
ISBN-10: 9780521848909
ISBN-13: 0521848903
Book Description
Greek tragedy is widely read and performed, but outside the commentary tradition detailed study of the poetic style and language of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides has been relatively neglected. This book seeks to fill that gap by providing an account of the poetics of the tragic genre. The author describes the varied handling of spoken dialogue and of lyric song; major topics such as vocabulary, rhetoric and imagery are considered in detail and illustrated from a broad range of plays. The contribution of the chorus to the dramas is also discussed. Characterisation, irony and generalising statements are treated in separate chapters and these topics are illuminated by comparisons which show not only what is shared by the three major dramatists but also what distinguishes their practice. The book sheds light both on the genre as a whole and on many particular passages.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘Rutherford’s book … fills a sizable gap in scholarship. … Becuse he has translated all the Greek that he copiously quotes, anyone with an interest in the subject can enjoy the riches of the book.’ Choice
‘The value of R.’s work lies in the fact that it puts its finger decisively on many important topics and provides ample stimulus for further debate. Its clarity and rigour of presentation are hard to fault, its discussions of individual passages are satisfyingly complex and thoughtful, and above all it is a timely reminder of the importance of treating tragedy as poetry.’ Matthew Wright, The Classical Review
Book Description
An exploration of the poetic qualities of the Greek tragic dramatists Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides highlighting their similarities and differences.
About the Author
R. B. Rutherford was appointed Tutor at Christ Church, Oxford in 1982 and has taught there since, covering Greek and Latin literature in tutorials and lectures. His published work ranges across Greek and Latin, prose and verse, epic, historiography and philosophic prose. Among other works Rutherford has published a Cambridge commentary on books 19 and 20 of the Odyssey (1992), a readable monograph on Homer (1996) and a survey of the whole of classical literature in less than 400 pages (2005). Greek tragedy was the focus of one of his earliest articles and has been a major interest to him ever since.
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