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WHEN HEROES SING

Sophoclean heroes engage in lyric song and lyrical speech far more than other heroes of tragedy. This has profound implications for both the hero himself and tragedy as a genre. The lyrical voice grounds the heroes in a world of poetic identity and power, demonstrating how tragedy was influenced by other kinds of poetry in fifth-century Athens. Yet, at the same time, the heroes' lyrical voices set them apart from their communities and lend them the authority and abilities of poets. Through close readings, this book demonstrates how the voice of each hero is inflected by song and other markers of lyric poetry, in order to discuss the purpose of their lyric passages and the wider issue of defining the nature and function of the poetic voice. This study offers new insight into the ways that Sophoclean tragedy inherits and refracts the traditions of other poetic genres. s a r a h n o o t e r is an assistant professor of Classics at the University of Chicago.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

WHEN HEROES SING

Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy

SARAH NOOTER

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,

Singapore, Sa~o Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

Information on this title: 9781107001619

c Sarah Nooter 2012

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written

permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2012

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Nooter, Sarah.

When heroes sing : Sophocles and the shifting soundscape of tragedy / Sarah Nooter. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-00161-9 (hardback)

1. Sophocles ? Language. 2. Tragedy ? History and criticism. I. Title. pa4432.n66 2012

882 .01 ? dc23 2012002690

isbn 978-1-107-00161-9 Hardback

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in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

Contents

Acknowledgements Note on the text List of short titles and abbreviations

Introduction: poetry, tragedy, and Sophocles

part i poetic authority 1 Poetic progress in Ajax 2 Waxing heroic in Trachiniae and Oedipus Tyrannus

part ii poetic power 3 Addressing lament in Electra 4 Philoctetes' apostrophes 5 The end and afterlife of poeticity: Oedipus at Colonus

Bibliography Index

page vi vii viii 1

31 56

101 124 147 178 195

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

Acknowledgements

I have been lucky to have copious guidance and support in writing this book. The seeds of the work were planted under the wise and generous stewardship of my dissertation adviser, Helene Foley, the wit and guidance of Frederick Griffiths, the interrogation and encouragement of Simon Goldhill, the exacting eye of Deborah Steiner, and the advice, humor, and affirmations of Nancy Worman. Rachel Kitzinger and David Sider offered invaluable suggestions as outside dissertation readers. Mark Payne led me to think about poetry more creatively at both the beginning and end of the project. Seth Schein and Kirk Ormand added depth to my sense of Sophocles in the later stages. Thomas Kingsley suggested acute improvements and Rachel Hostyk's editorial insight enhanced every paragraph. Felix Budelmann and the other anonymous reader from Cambridge University Press offered excellent guidance and corrections. Michael Sharp patiently allowed this project to come to fruition and Gillian Cloke graced it with tireless and good-humored copy-editing. I can offer only my thanks to these great influences.

My father, Thomas Nooter, read the whole dissertation and made me believe that someone might someday wish to read the book it would become. My mother, Alice Schlesinger, offered faith in me past all reasonable measure, as usual. My beautiful son, Henry, gave me a reason to finish. My wonderful husband, Michael Fish, edited and improved the book immeasurably, and improves its author daily.

This book is dedicated to my first inspiring teachers of the classics, on whom there can be no improvement: Gail Brousal, Robert Henneman, Paul O'Rourke, and the late Victor Marchioro.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

Note on the text

An earlier version of Chapter 3 appeared as "Language, Lamentation and Power in Sophocles' Electra," Classical World 104.4 (Summer 2011) 399? 417. Some ideas in the introduction appeared in altered form in "Poetic Speakers in Sophocles," published in K. Ormand (ed.) A Companion to Sophocles (Blackwell, 2012).

In citing Sophocles, I have used the most recent OCT, edited by LloydJones and Wilson, with modifications in accordance with readings from Pearson and other editions, as indicated throughout. Translations are mine, unless otherwise stated, and are included for all quotations of Greek text.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00161-9 - When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy Sarah Nooter Frontmatter More information

List of short titles and abbreviations

IEG Jebb

Lloyd-Jones and Wilson LSJ Pearson PLF PMG

West, M. L. (1989, 1992) Iambi et Elegi Graeci, i, ii. Oxford and New York. Jebb, R. C. (1883?96) Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments with Critical Notes, Commentary, and Translation in English Prose, vols. i?vii. Cambridge. Lloyd-Jones, H. and Wilson, N. G. (1990) Sophoclis Fabulae: Recognoverunt Brevique Adnotatione Critica Instruxerunt. Oxford. Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., and Jones, H. S. (1996) A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th edn. Oxford. Pearson, A. C. (1924) Sophoclis Fabulae: Recognovit Brevique Adnotatione Critica Instruxit. Oxford. Lobel, E. and Page, D. L. (1955) Poetarum Lesbiorum Fragmenta. Oxford. Page, D. L. (1962) Poetae Melici Graeci. Oxford.

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