Sophocles: A Study of his Theater in its Political and Social Context

At Scholarhip, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College, a review by Joel Alden Schlosser of Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context, by Jacques Jouanna, translated by Steven Rendall.

"The subtitle of this volume, 'a study of his theater in its political and social context' indicates how Jouanna proposes to know the man and his work. Sophocles the tragic poet was also an Athenian, an Athenian known both for his political involvement as well as for his piety. In contrast to the revisionist readings of Greek tragedy as, in J. Peter Euben's words, am institution 'whose theoretical dimensions were made possible by a democratic culture it helped define, sustain, and question, [J. Peter Euben, “Introduction,” in Greek Tragedy and Political Theory, ed. J. Peter Euben, 1 – 42. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986: 24] Jouanna devotes his energies primarily to the aesthetic meaning of Sophocles, studying the plays as theater with ramifications including but not limited to the democratic polis."

See Sophocles, Plays, Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 5, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 4.