Overview

Sophocles is often considered the least philosophical of the three great Greek tragedians. However, Ruby Blondell offers a vital examination of the ethical content of the plays by focusing on the pervasive Greek popular moral code of 'helping friends and harming enemies'. Five of the extant plays are discussed in detail from both a dramatic and an ethical standpoint, and the author concludes that ethical themes are not only integral to each drama, but are subjected to an implicit critique through the tragic consequences to which they give rise. Greek scholars and students of Greek drama and Greek thought will welcome this book, which is presented in such a way as to be accessible to specialists and non-specialists alike. No knowledge of Greek is required. This revised edition includes a contextualising new Foreword which engages with critical and scholarly developments in Greek drama since the original publication.

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9781009465816

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Reviews

'Helping Friends and Harming Enemies should be read not only by those interested in Sophocles or in literature and philosophy but also by those interested in fifth-century Athens. It will provide them with much food for thought.' Christina Elliott Sorum, formerly Dean of the Classics Faculty and Academic Vice President, Union College '[Blondell] makes many perceptive and unfamiliar points, and all who take Sophocles seriously will have to take this book on board.' Oliver Taplin, Emeritus Professor of Classics, University of Oxford

Author Information

Ruby Blondell (formerly known as Mary Whitlock Blundell) is Professor of Classics, and Adjunct Professor in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Emeritx at the University of Washington. They have published widely on Greek literature and philosophy, and on the reception of myth in popular culture. Their other books include The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues (Cambridge, 2002), Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation (Oxford, 2013) and Helen of Troy in Hollywood (Princeton, 2023).

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