Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Bibliography of short titles
- 1 Introductory
- 2 The mind of Ajax
- 3 The burial of Ajax
- 4 Trachiniae
- 5 Sophocles and the irrational: three odes in Antigone
- 6 Creon and Antigone
- 7 Fate in Sophocles
- 8 The fall of Oedipus
- 9 Furies in Sophocles
- 10 Electra
- 11 Oedipus at Colonus
- 12 Philoctetes
- 13 Heroes and gods
- Appendices
- A The Parodos of Trachiniae
- B Trachiniae 248ff.
- C Prometheus Vinctus 511–20
- D The Parodos of Electra
- E Locality in Oedipus Coloneus
- F Philoctetes 419ff.
- G The chronology of the plays
- Select index
A - The Parodos of Trachiniae
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Bibliography of short titles
- 1 Introductory
- 2 The mind of Ajax
- 3 The burial of Ajax
- 4 Trachiniae
- 5 Sophocles and the irrational: three odes in Antigone
- 6 Creon and Antigone
- 7 Fate in Sophocles
- 8 The fall of Oedipus
- 9 Furies in Sophocles
- 10 Electra
- 11 Oedipus at Colonus
- 12 Philoctetes
- 13 Heroes and gods
- Appendices
- A The Parodos of Trachiniae
- B Trachiniae 248ff.
- C Prometheus Vinctus 511–20
- D The Parodos of Electra
- E Locality in Oedipus Coloneus
- F Philoctetes 419ff.
- G The chronology of the plays
- Select index
Summary
In the Parodos the alternation of joy and sorrow is symbolized by the great alternating process of nature, day and night. It is the consoling argument of the Chorus that sorrow cannot last for ever, but will give place to joy as night gives place to day, and Deianira should therefore not reject good hope. This they have in mind as they sing, but the words which Sophocles gives them may suggest that she is right not to be so consoled. The handling of this theme, particularly in the first stanza and the last, is a striking example of the lyric subtlety of Sophocles.
In the first stanza, overtly, the Chorus appeal to the sun as the source of knowledge, to tell them where Alcmena's son may be.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sophocles: An Interpretation , pp. 330 - 331Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1980