R. P. Winnington-Ingram – författare

Professor Winnington-Ingram's reputation as an authority on Greek drama is based on a lifetime's careful scholarship. In 1980 the Press published Professor Winnington-Ingram's book on Sophocles and in 1983 he followed it up with some studies on Aeschylus. This book explores the problems in Aeschylus' earlier plays: Persae, Septem contra Thebas and the Daniad trilogy. There is also an emphasis on different aspects of the Oresteia and finally, an examination of the peculiar problems in Prometheus Bound. A view of Aeschylean tragedy emerges - and of the poet's contribution to the development of Greek religious thought. Students of Greek drama will welcome this collection. Greek in the body of the text is translated, so that the book will be accessible to those studying Greek literature in translation and the literature and drama of other cultures.

In this interpretation of the seven extant tragedies of Sophocles, Professor Winnington-Ingram provides not so much a straightforward account of Sophocles as an exploration of his tragic vision of the world. The Sophoclean 'hero' lies at the centre of this vision. Taking the plays individually but without losing sight of the single consistent mind behind them, the author faces the questions of how the hero is to be regarded, what we are to make of the fates he suffered and the divine powers who controlled those fates. He proceeds by a detailed study of what Sophocles wrote, by close attention to form and recurrent themes, and especially by close analysis of a number of choral odes. Students of Greek drama will find that this detailed study provides invaluable insights into the meaning of the tragedies. Greek in the text is translated or paraphrased, so that the book will also be of interest to students of the literature and drama of other cultures.