Plot-Construction in Sophocles

Author(s): T. B. L. Webster
Source: The Classical Review, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Sep., 1932), pp. 146-150
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
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146 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
warm sympathy by classical scholars. cast (on the American Type Founders
A nationalism racy of the soil, and Company's Art Line) by the Williams
European contacts, have combined to Engineering Company of London; and
extend the horizon of Turkish historical the property of the Snail's Pace Press
interests from Mecca to Manzikert and of Amherst, Massachusetts.
from Manzikert to Boghaz KOi, and The lower-case is an interesting de-
archaeologists have for some years been parture from conventional types in that
aware of an awakening interest among it is an attempt to reproduce the min-
enlightened Turks in the rich archaeo- uscule script of the end of the ninth
logical treasures of Asia Minor. Evi- century and the beginning of the tenth,
dence is now forthcoming of a desire to wisely avoiding ligatures; the upper-
penetrate to the classical sources of the case is more ordinary and owes some-
intellectual life of Europe. You can thing, as Mr. Fobes admits, to Proctor's
now buy in the Turkish bookshops-- Otter type. In the lower-case there are
my own copy was bought in the bazar some surprises: e is an ascendant, X a
at Konia-a translation of Horace into descendant; and unfortunately there
melodious Turkish by Yakub Kadri, the are two pairs of letters which are
Member for Mardin in the Turkish scarcely sufficiently distinguishable, 83
Chamber. The second of the triad of and ic (both have the open form, like a
Latin works so far made accessible to u, the latter with the first member
Turkish readers is-oddly enough, but slightly higher than the other) and tz
doubtless in memory of a memorable and v-the latter is less than the former
companionship in arms-the Germania by the tiniest seriph, and it really needs
of Tacitus, translated by Jami Bey. good eyes to see them apart.
This has been followed by a rendering Probably the type in this form is not
of Virgil's Eclogues and Georgics by final: with a few corrections it might
Rushen Eshref Bey, known in Ankara be made into a most admirable and
as poet, man of letters, and Secretary of interesting letter, with the double ad-
the National Assembly, who is now at vantage of novelty and beauty. As it
work on a translation of the Aeneid. is now, it is a bold and enjoyable ex-
These pioneering ventures are based on periment, on which Mr. Fobes and his
the French translations in the Budd collaborators are on all accounts to be
series; they encourage us to look congratulated.
forward to the fruition of a project
already advocated by influential Turks,
the introduction of Latin and Greek Sir George Macdonald's presidential
into the curriculum of the schools and address to the Classical Association on
colleges of Asia Minor. W. M. C. Agricola in Britain has now been pub-
lished (see p. 192), and the reader's
We have received from the United impression is the same as the hearer's
States an interesting type-specimen of (p. 49), that it was a masterly handling
'Benner Greek.' It is described as of a subject important alike to students
designed by Francis H. Fobes; cut and of Britain and to students of Rome.

PLOT-CONSTRUCTION IN SOPHOCLES.
THIS is the first of what I hope will Tyrannus, Electra,' Philoctetes, Oedipus
be a series of studies on Sophocles. It Coloneus: some of my reasons for this
seemed to be worth while to try to p. 202, II., p. _57; for the Electra, ibid. II., p.
trace the development of his art with 89-below I try to show that the Electra must
the help of parallel analyses of the be nearer to the O. T. than to the Philoctetes.
The monody before the parodos is possible any
existing plays. For this purpose I have after the Hecuba, even if it is necessary to
assumed that the chronological order is time
assume that Sophocles could not have used it
Ajax, Antigone, Trachiniae,1 Oedipus before Euripides. Siess, WienerStud. XXXVI.,
arrives at the same conclusion but must be dis-
1 For the arguments for the early dating of the counted as his evidence makes the O.T. the
Trachiniae see Pohlenz, Griechische Tragbdie, latest play.

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 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 147
will appear in what follows. I consider scheme was invented by Aeschylus
first the outline of the plot: in the rather than by Sophocles, especially as
Trachiniae and the later plays the extent we now know that Sophocles wrote at
of the action is defined in the prologue least one connected trilogy 5-and this
by an oracle1 and the play ends when form is particularly suitable for the first
the oracle has been fulfilled, whereas in play of a trilogy. In the Trachiniae the
the Ajax the prologue only motives the overlap is greater, for Lichas announces
parodos, and in the Antigone the an- the coming of Heracles in the first act,
nouncement of Creon's decree only and it is announced again by Hyllus
foreshadows the death of Antigone and just before the suicide of Deianira; this
not the complete discomfiture of Creon: is nearer to the unitary structure of the
it would seem then that in his maturity later plays.
Sophocles carefully defined his plot, and There are two other general points
the presence or absence of an oracle which may be considered before pro-
might form a criterion for dating the ceeding to a comparison of the parts of
lost plays. This ,is a device which the play, contrasted characters and the
Euripides eschews, for he values sur- 'climax' technique. In the Antigone
prise and Tyche' is the force behind his Ismene is introduced simply as a foil to
plots (the Iphigenia in Tauris is, however, Antigone; she is the ordinary Athenian
an exception). woman. But Sophocles has also there-
Secondly, the general structure of the by given a definite character and a
plot. In the first three plays the chief certain importance to the lay figure who
character dies a little after halfway answers the heroine in the prologue; in
through, and a second action starts; in the Trachiniae (and I suspect in the
the later plays there is a single action Tereus6) the lay figure is used; in the
running through the whole play. In Oedipus Tyrannus the priest is to all
the Ajax and the Antigone the first intents and purposes the spokesman of
chapter of the new action is inserted the chorus. In the Electra and the
before the last chapter of the original Philoctetes there are also contrasted
action; in the Ajax Teucer's messenger pairs of characters, Electra and Chryso-
arrives3 before Ajax commits suicide; themis, Neoptolemus and Odysseus:
and in the Antigone the Haemon scene3 but they have been worked much more
is inserted before the departure of carefully into the fabric of the play, for
Antigone. This method of welding the both the Chrysothemis scenes are struc-
two actions together4 is also used in the turally necessary, the earlier one to pre-
Agamemnon, where the Cassandra scene pare for the arrival of Clytaemnestra,
heralds the second part of the play, but the later one to complete Electra's
though the Agamemnon is earlier than discomfiture before the peripeteia: the
the Antigone there is no proof that this importance of Odysseus in the Philo-
ctetes is obvious. The lost plays would
12 Trach. 77, 0. T.. 96, El. 32, Phil. 68, O.C. 87.
Pohlenz, of. cit., p. 436, etc. presumably yield further instances.'
3 Ai. 719, Ant. 635. By the 'climax' technique I mean the
seems to have had the
4 The 'AXaLCDv ;XXohoyov subjection of the hero to a series of tests
same structure; the first half dealt with the of increasing intensity.8 In the Ajax
anagnorisis of Telephos, the second with the re- Teucer has to face first Menelaus and
conciliation of Achilles. Achilles' coming must
have been announced by a herald beforehand, then Agamemnop; in the Antigone
because in the preserved fragment, when he there is rising opposition to Creon from
comes, Odysseus is already on the stage to
The Tereus was probably also
Ismene, Haemon and Teiresias; in the
receive him.
Trachiniae the messenger is succeeded
diptych; it had a prologue like the Trachiniae :
the first part dealt with the story of Philomela, by Lichas. But this technique cannot
the second with the revenge, the metamorphosis be developed to its full extent as long
was perhaps announced by Hermes. There is as the tragedy is of the diptych form
no reason to assume that it must have been
produced shortly before the Birds; 1. 281 of 5 The Telep•eia.
the Birds seems to preclude it, for Philocles is 6 Fr. 583 probably belongs to the prologue.
unlikely to have plagiarised the Tereus soon 7 E.g. the Ip/Zigeneia : Achilles and Odysseus
after its production. The Teleflhos was thirteen were probably contrasted.
years old when the Acharnians was written. 8 Cf. Post, Harvard Studies, 1912.

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148 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
and as long as the scenes have to be then a considerable time is supposed to
separated by complete choral odes. elapse between the prologue and the
Therefore we find a much longer series parodos; and there are other instances
of tests in the later plays-in the Electra of this disregard for the lapse of time in
and the Oedipus Tyrannus they start the early plays: in the Antigone it is
after the first act and last till the peri- dawn at the beginning of the play, but
peteia; in the Philoctetes and Oedipus the second act takes place after mid-
Coloneus the first act is included. This day ;4 in the Trachiniae between 1. 633
is made more effective by the substitu- and 733 Lichas has crossed from Trachis
tion of short lyrical dialogues,' in which to Euboea, Heracles has put on the
the actors take part, for set choruses, or fatal robe, and Hyllus has returned from
the reduction of the chorus to a single Euboea to Trachis with the news.
strophe, followed long after by its anti- But in the prologue of the Oedipus
strophe; this makes it possible to con- Coloneus the stranger goes off to fetch
struct acts some 450 lines long with the chorus 37 lines before the chorus
about 40 lines of lyrical dialogue in the arrive. It is a fair assumption then
middle: the first clear instance of this that Sophocles is more interested in the
is in the Oedipus Tyrannus, but the 20 realism of his presentation in the later
lines of paean in the Trachiniae also plays, and there is further evidence of
form a very brief interlude between the this. In the later plays, starting with
arrival of the messenger and the arrival the Electra, the scene of the action5 and
of Lichas. Another instance of the the appearance6 of the characters are
suppressed chorus is the short kommos described; and in the last two plays
between the two messenger speeches of there is all through much more action'
the Eurypylus; this and the fact that on the stage than in the earlier plays.
the chief interest would seem to be the Realism then would seem to be a
effect of these speeches on Astyoche characteristic of the later plays.
indicate a date not far from the Electra. To return to the prologue and the
The importance of the prologue as a preparation for later scenes, in the Ajax
preparation for the play as a whole has there is no preparation for any scene
already been discussed, but the prologue beyond the parodos. In the Antigone
also prepares for particular scenes in and the Oedipus Tyrannus the first act
the play. In all the plays except the is prepared, for Antigone announces
Trachiniae, Electra, and Philoctetes the that Creon is coming and Oedipus
prologue prepares for the parodos: in announces that he is going to institute
those plays the chorus are so closely a search for the murderer of Laius; in
connected with one of the characters the Trachiniae also the mission of
who have appeared in the prologue that Hyllus prepares us for the arrival of
they may be expected to come and see news from Heracles in the near future.
what he or she is doing. But there is a But in the Electra preparations are
difference in the method of the prepara- made for the false report of Orestes'
tion. In the Ajax the chorus arrive death in the next act but one and for
immediately after Odysseus has left the the return of Chrysothemis8 after the
stage to go and spread in the Greek camp short kommos in the middle of that act,
the report which is the cause of their and in the Philoctetes the prologue pre-
coming.2 In the Oedipus Tyrannus pares for the lies told by Neoptolemos
Oedipus says that someone must in the first act, for the entry of the
summon the people of Cadmus,3 and Emporos at the end of the act, and the
the chorus representing them imme- return of Odysseus in the third act.
diately arrive. In both these cases This careful preparation for each scene
10.T. 649; El. 823, 1231; Phil. 391, 507, S1. 415.
827; O.C., 509, 833, 876. 5 In the prologues; cf. Nestle, Struktur des
11.67 and 148; on this whole question see Eingangs.
T. v. Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,Phil. Untersuch. 6 El. 1177, Phil. 201 f., O.C. 1255.
XXI., and Ackermann, Ueber das r0Lavo v 7 Phil. 22 f., IOOI, 1254, 1299; O.C. III f.,
bei Sophocles. 117-202, 826 f.
3 1. 144. 8 El. 52.

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 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 149
is in principle the same as the careful from the 'songs on a theme from
definition of the scope of the play; it the prologue' which constitute the
can be seen of course in other parts of parodoi of the earlier plays. The
the play besides the prologue; here are chief object of the first act, besides
some striking instances: the first act of furthering the story and preparing for
the Trachiniae is very carefully con- further acts, is to display the character
structed so that Lichas is first sent off of the hero (though in the Antigone it
the stage while the messenger tells is Creon's character, not Antigone's,
Deianira that he has been lying, and which is displayed): we are to know
again that Deianira may tell the chorus before his trials begin what sort of man
the exact nature of the present that she is to be tried; in the latest plays, as I
is sending to Heracles and so prepare have said already, the first and second
us for the tragedy. In the Electra acts are run together.
Chrysothemis naturally comes to Elec- The construction of the scenes from
tra with the news of Clytaemnestra's the first act to the crisis is most success-
dream, thus preparing for the Clytaem- ful in the Oedipus Tyrannus and the
nestra scene but also for her own return, Electra; incident follows incident with
for Electra sends her to Agamemnon's uncanny swiftness and inevitability: the
tomb, and we know that she will find defiant Oedipus discovers that he is in
Orestes' hair there and will come back fact the murderer of his father and the
with the news. In the OedipusColoneus husband of his mother, the defiant
the first act is beautifully constructed to Electra is reduced to the depths of
prepare for the entrance of Theseus and despair and then raised again to the
for the later acts with Creon and Poly- height of triumph. But there is an
neices and for the capture of Ismene, essential difference between the two
which both sets an actor free and plays: in the Oedipus we do not believe
strengthens Creon's position. I have that Oedipus is the culprit, and the dis-
stressed this careful preparation because covery is as exciting for us as forOedipus;
it seems to be peculiar to Sophocles; in the Electra we know that Orestes is
the arrival of a Sophoclean character is alive, and therefore we are interested
expected: Euripidean characters arrive not in the story but in the emotional
unexpectedly, and when they have reactions1 of Electra to the story. In
come they may give their reasons for the later play Sophocles is chiefly con-
coming. This is a fundamental differ- cerned with the emotions of his heroine
ence in technique, not unlike the differ- and in the change from one emotion to
ence between the use of outline and another emotion. This is important
shading to distinguish the figure from for the later plays, for the theme of
the background in painting. the Philoctetes and Oedipus Coloneus is
The other parts of the play can be the emotions of the hero and their
discussed more shortly than could the changes; therefore the story need not
prologue and the questions arising out develop along a single line as it does in
of it. The use of the chorus must be the Oedipus Tyrannus. Creon is followed
reserved for another study. It is, how- by Polyneices and Polyneices is followed
ever, worth noting that the parodos at by the thunderclap; the three are not
least becomes an integral part of the themselves inevitably interconnected,
plot in the two last plays and has the but they do arouse a succession of emo-
same qualities of realism and action tions in Oedipus. The three early plays
which have been noted in the pro- fall short of the Oedipus Tyrannus in a
logue: thus in the Oedipus Coloneus the different way. First there is the in-
chorus come in to look for Oedipus, herent difficulty of the diptych form
whom Antigone has hidden in the of which I have spoken already. Then
wood; after a short search they find him each of the stories carries with it a
and instruct Antigone where he may spatial difficulty : Ajax has first to spend
sit; then they discover that he is in a scene lying to the chorus in order to
fact Oedipus, and are only kept from get the opportunity to commit suicide
driving him away by the entreaties
1
of Antigone. This is entirely different Cf. Schadewaldt, Monolog u. Selbstgesfrdich.

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150 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

(and it is arguable that this is not con- To sum up, when Sophocles con-
sonant with his character),' and then structs a plot he chooses an action of
Sophocles is involved in an awkward a definite length and announces the
change of scene in the middle of an act. scope of it in the prologue; the suc-
In the Antigone the deed of defiance, cessive acts are always prepared be-
the burial of Polyneices, has to be done forehand, whether in the prologue or
off the stage, and the clash between afterwards; the first act gives us the
Antigone and Creon happens therefore character of the hero. The best con-
after the event. In the Trachiniae, structed plot is the Oedipus Tyrannus,
again, Heracles puts on the fatal robe where the story advances swiftly and
in Euboea, and the climax is inter- directly to the climax after the first act.
rupted while the robe is taken to Besides this development in the art of
Euboea and the news brought back. plot-construction, there is a develop-
The high-water mark of construction is ment in the realism of the action. In
the Oedipus Tyrannus. all the early plays there are certain
Of the closing scenes there is little to SXoyta;in the latest plays there is not
say, except that Sophocles emphasises only no discrepancy between what is
the end by providing for as many of the done on the stage and what is done off
characters as possible; that is why it, but the action on the stage is realist-
Eurydice commits suicide in the An- ically represented.
tigone and why Orestes is not pursued T. B. L. WEBSTER.
by Furies in the Electra.
1Pohlenz, of. cit., II., p. 47. University of Manchester.

THREE NEW LINES OF LUCAN?

THE three lines produced by Pro- quished Pompeians in Spain, they must
fessor Souter in C.R. XLVI p. 114 not hope for. Language and verse are
from cod. Brit. mus. add. 14799 had quite like Lucan, and so is the ex-
'dedimus quod rura, quod
already been cited, with the correct aggeration IV 383-5 'miles
reading quod . . . quod in the second urbes' representing
verse, by Cortius at Luc. VII 303 from . . . in urbes I spargitur' and 397 'non
the MSS which he called Guelf. 5 deductos recipit sua terra colonos.'
and Hamb. I, and by Burman at VII But on the other, the external side,
In the
302 from Heinsius' collations of' Hamb. the lines provoke suspicion.
sec.' (apparently the same) and a codex Hamburg MS they stand in a wrong
Langermanni. place, before and not after 303, and in
That they are not required by the the cod. Langerm. they are added by a
context may be thought to tell in their second hand; and these are frequent
favour, since there would be no cause and familiar signs of interpolation.
for inserting them; and when inserted Moreover there is no apparent reason
should have fallen
they form an appropriate addition. why, if genuine, they .
The Caesarians have only two issues out; for parata . . negatum is not
of the day to expect, reward if victorious, much of an homoeoteleuton.
A. E. HOUSMAN.
punishment if vanquished: a third, such
clemency as was shown to the van-

NOTES ON THE TRANSMISSION OF LUCAN'S TEXT.

IN the C.R. for July, 1932 (XLVI, p. This statement was the result of an
114), I produced, from British Museum assumption that all the published
criti-
Additional MS. 14799, three lines cal material for the constitution of
'which, to the best of my belief, have Lucan's text was to be found in the
never been observed by an editor or editions of Hosius and Housman. I
appeared in print.' owe an apology to the editors and

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