Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

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.

Politics in literature. --- Greek drama (Tragedy) --- Greek literature --- Political science in literature --- History and criticism. --- Alcibiades --- Sophocles --- Sophocle --- Sófocles --- Sofoklis --- Sofokl --- Sūfūklīs --- Sofokles --- Sūtmūklīs --- Sofocle --- Sophokles --- Sofokŭl --- סופוקלס --- سوفوكليس --- Σοφοκλῆς --- Alkibiades --- Alcibiade --- Alkibiad --- In literature. --- Characters --- Alcibiades. --- Criticism and interpretation. --- Athens (Greece) --- Aḟiny (Greece) --- Atene (Greece) --- Atʻēnkʻ (Greece) --- Ateny (Greece) --- Athen (Greece) --- Athēna (Greece) --- Athēnai (Greece) --- Athènes (Greece) --- Athinai (Greece) --- Athīnā (Greece) --- Αθήνα (Greece) --- Sophoclis --- Characters.