Description
Book SynopsisThis book shows how Sophocles' method of presenting character, his unique handling of myth, his predilection for presenting ideas by comparison and contrast, and his principles of structure are so closely related that they serve to clarify each other.
Trade ReviewAn important and substantial book that confirms Kirkwood's position in the front ranks of criticism.
* Classical World *
Kirkwood displays the sure touch of one who has been familiar with his author for years. His analysis and exposition have a deft clarity that is not only scholarly but wholly charming. Kirkwood's judgments, even where we might disagree with them, always reflect a good sense and mature deliberation.
* American Journal of Philology *
The intention of Kirkwood's clear and well-written book is to study the dramatic methods of Sophocles, especially in the revelation of character. The chapter on construction, distinguishing 'diptych,' 'linear,' and 'triangular' form in the plays, and the chapter on the role of the chorus both center on what is, for the author, the primary essence of Sophocles' art: the delineation of his heroic, or merely human, characters. Sophocles' method is chiefly one of interplay: his dramatis personae are revealed, Kirkwood points out, through their relationships with each other, an observation not in itself new, but developed here extensively and convincingly.
* Phoenix *
