The first two chapters of this book isolate and describe the literary phenomenon of the Sophoclean tragic hero. In all but one of the extant Sophoclean dramas, a heroic figure who is compounded of the same literary elements faced a situation which is essentially the same. The demonstration of this recurrent pattern is made not through character-analysis, but through a close examination of the language employed by both the hero and those with whom he contends. The two chapters attempt to present what might, with a slight exaggeration, be called the "formula" of Sophoclean tragedy.

A great artist may repeat a structural pattern but he never really repeats himself. In the remaining four chapters, a close analysis of three plays, the Antigone, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus, emphasizes the individuality and variety of the living figures Sophocles created on the same basic armature.

This approach to Sophoclean drama is (as in the author's previous work on the subject) both historical and critical; the universal and therefore contemporary appeal of the plays is to be found not by slighting or dismissing their historical context, but by an attempt to understand it all in its complexity. "The play needs to be seen as what it was, to be understood as what it is."

Bernard M. W. Knox, Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, D.C., was formerly Professor of Classics at Yale University. He is the author of numerous articles and monographs including The Serpent and the Flame, and Oedipus at Thebes.

"To read this book is a most stimulating experience. It makes an invaluable contribution to Sophoclean studies."—Classical Philology

"Knox seeks to explore Sophocles' vision of the hero in both its general characteristics and in its specific manifestations in three plays...It is a rare pleasure to encounter a work of scholarship written with such power...[displaying] first-rate scholarship combined with acute judgment and deep sensitivity to language, character, and dramatic situation."—American Journal of Philology

"[A] brilliant discussion...The opening chapter defines the Sophoclean hero and shows the essential similarity among Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus, and, with just as much difference. Aeschylus' Prometheus...The remaining chapters discuss Antigone, Philoctetes, and the aged Oedipus in greater depth, showing this time the uniqueness of each and throwing a welcome light on each of the plays considered."—Classical Outlook

"A most distinguished work...certainly a powerfully interesting one...He writes with a deep civilized seriousness in a manner—passionate but unhysterical, calm but never pedantic—which is worthy of his subject-matter. And, by his constant attention to the actual words and details of the plays, he brings Sophoclean drama before us with renewed vividness and significance."—Cambridge Review

"Knox sets out to construct a theory of the plays, and expositions of individual plays, based on the word Sophocles did write, and the firmness and intelligence with which he carries out this purpose are responsible for the excellence of his book...a work of true scholarship which anyone with a serious love of literature can read and enjoy."—Yale Review