Questions tagged [sophocles]

Questions about the works of Greek tragedian Sophocles (c. 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC) or his life as a writer. These questions should also be tagged with [greek-literature].

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What does it mean when Scully's translations of Sophocles use center-aligned text?

Short version: I am reading The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. In both of Scully's translations (Aias and Philoktetes), though none of Bagg's, sections of ...
bobble's user avatar
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Why does Odysseus decide to leave without Philoktetes?

I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. At one point, after getting ...
bobble's user avatar
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Purpose of the stage direction "Burst of light, fading. Distant rumbling." in "Philoktetes"

I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. There was a stage direction which ...
bobble's user avatar
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Why does the chorus pray to Rhea in "Philoktetes"?

This is from James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. After Neoptolemos tells ...
bobble's user avatar
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On what basis are lines attributed to the whole chorus or just the chorus leader?

I was cross-referencing my translation of Aias*, James Scully's from The Complete Plays of Sophocles (translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully), with a free online translation by Ian Johnston. I ...
bobble's user avatar
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8 votes
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Why is Philoktetes specifically hunting "doves"?

I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. Twice it is mentioned that the ...
bobble's user avatar
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4 votes
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Why are "doves" used in this simile from "Aias"?

This is from James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. Son of Telamon, rock of Salamis towering up ...
bobble's user avatar
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How is Aias's initially informal reintroduction speech reflected in the original text?

I am reading James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. When Aias enters for the second time, during the ...
bobble's user avatar
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6 votes
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What does it mean when the chorus speaks "severally" in "Aias"?

I am reading James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. Eleven different times, per the search function ...
bobble's user avatar
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5 votes
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What does it mean to "graze on the fizzy air"?

This is from James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully.                      Dear boy may you be ...
bobble's user avatar
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Why is Seamus Heaney's "The Cure at Troy" so often quoted in political contexts?

The Cure at Troy is Seamus Heaney's translation and adaptation of Sophocles's Philoctetes set during the Trojan War. It seems to be very often quoted by politicians: most recently by British prime ...
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3 votes
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In which act/scene of Antigone (Sophocles) is this passage?

I just stumbled on this translation of Antigone by F. L. Lucas where it says: Wonders there are many, but there is no wonder wilder than man - Man who makes the winds of winter bear him, Through ...
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Hegel on Antigone

According to this article: According to Hegel's account of Greek tragedy, the conflict is not between good and evil but between goods that are each making too exclusive a claim. What is Hegel's ...
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