ROBERT E GOHEEN The Imagery of Sophocles Antigone A Study of Poetic Language and structure PRINCTTON LE MCY-LFBRAKY This content downloaded from 128. 122. 230. 148 on Thu. 23 Mar 2017094209UTC
This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:42:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Imagery of Sophocles antigone A STUDY OF POETIC LANGUAGE AND STRUCTURE By robert F Goheen PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS 1951 This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 42: 09 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
The Imagery of Sophocles' zAntigone A STUDY OF POETIC LANGUAGE AND STRUCTURE By Robert F. Goheen PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:42:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
CONTENTS . INTRODUCTION Program A Word on Method Dimensions of the Tragic Form The Fact of Recurrence 3579 Il IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL The Money Sequence The Military Sequence Men Brutes: Gods: Me III. THE LARGER TRAGIC PERSPECTIVE IN THREE SUPPORTING IMAGE PATTERNS The Marriage Motif of Disease and Cure Images of the Sea and sailing IV IMAGERY AND STRUCTURE IN THE ODES Stasimon I Stasimon II Stasimon Iv V.“ AND AT LAST TEACH WISDOM” Antigone and the way of Innate Intuition Creon and the way of Sense and Reason Phromein-Aphrosyne 8 The Imagery of Sight Nature and Law The End is wisdom 93 POSTSCRIPT. APPROACHES TO THE ISSUE The General Problem IOI Imagery. A Working Definition Formal Characteristics of the Images Subject Matter of the Images II5 This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 43: 44 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION I Program 3 A Word on Method 5 Dimensions of the Tragic Form 7 The Fact of Recurrence 9 II. IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL 14 The Money Sequence 14 The Military Sequence 19 Men : Brutes :: Gods : Men 26 III. THE LARGER TRAGIC PERSPECTIVE IN THREE SUPPORTING IMAGE PATTERNS 36 The Marriage Motif 37 Images of Disease and Cure 41 Images of the Sea and Sailing 44 IV. IMAGERY AND STRUCTURE IN THE ODES 52 Stasimon 1 53 Stasimon 11 56 Stasimon iv 64 V. "AND AT LAST TEACH WISDOM" 75 Antigone and the Way of Innate Intuition 76 Creon and the Way of Sense and Reason 82 Phronein-Aphrosyne 83 The Imagery of Sight 84 Nature and Law 86 The End is Wisdom 93 POSTSCRIPT. APPROACHES TO THE ISSUE 101 The General Problem 101 Imagery. A Working Definition 104 Formal Characteristics of the Images 108 Subject Matter of the Images 115 This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:43:44 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
CONTENTS CHART: TEMPORAL PATTERN OF THE DOMINANT IMAGE SEQUENCES NOTES BLIOGRAPHY INDEX OF REFERENCES TO THE TEXT This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 43: 44 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
CONTENT S CHART : TEMPORAL PATTER N OF TH E DOMINAN T IMAGE SEQUENCES I20-I2 I NOTES 125 BIBLIOGRAPHY 158 INDEX OF REFERENCES T O TH E TEX T 167 This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:43:44 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Imagery of Sophocles' Antigone This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 43: 44 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
The Imagery of Sophocles' Antigone This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:43:44 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
I conceive then a word, as poetry is concerned with omponent of an act of the mind so subtly dependent on other components of this act and of other acts that it can be distinguished from these interactions only as a convenience of discourse. It sounds nonsense to ay that a word is its interactions with other words; but that is a short way of saying the thing which Poetics is most in danger always of overlooking. Words only work together. We understand no word except in and through its interactions with other words"(I. A. Richards, The Interactions of Words" in The Language Princeton, 1942, P. 74) "The structure meant is a structure of meanings, evalua tions and interpretations; and the principle of unity which informs it seems to be one of balancing and harmo- nizing connotations, attitudes and meanings, But even here one needs to make important qualifications: the principle is not one which involves the arrangement of various elements into homogeneous groupings, pairing like with like. It unites the like with the unlike. It does not unite them, however, by the simple process of allow ing one connotation to cancel out another nor does it reduce the contradictory attitudes to harmony by a process of subtraction. The unity is not a unity of the sort to be achieved by the reduction and simplification appropri ate to an algebraic formula. It is a positive unity, not a rmon ell wrong New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, I947, pp This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 43: 44 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
"I conceive then a word, as poetry is concerned with it, . . . to be a component of an act of the mind so subtly dependent on other components of this act and of other acts that it can be distinguished from these interactions only as a convenience of discourse. It sounds nonsense to say that a word is its interactions with other words; but that is a short way of saying the thing which Poetics is most in danger always of overlooking. Words only work together. We understand no word except in and through its interactions with other words" (I. A. Richards, "The Interactions of Words" in The Language of Poetry, Princeton, 1942, p. 74). "The structure meant is a structure of meanings, evaluations and interpretations; and the principle of unity which informs it seems to be one of balancing and harmonizing connotations, attitudes and meanings. But even here one needs to make important qualifications: the principle is not one which involves the arrangement of various elements into homogeneous groupings, pairing like with like. It unites the like with the unlike. It does not unite them, however, by the simple process of allowing one connotation to cancel out another nor does it reduce the contradictory attitudes to harmony by a process of subtraction. The unity is not a unity of the sort to be achieved by the reduction and simplification appropriate to an algebraic formula. It is a positive unity, not a negative; it represents not a residue but an achieved harmony" (Cleanth Brooks, The Well Wrought Vrn, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1947, pp. 178-9). This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:43:44 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION His essay centers upon one element of the antigone, the poetic imagery, in the belief that such a study can illumine the role of Sophocles'poetry in hi drama and add precision and fullness to our understanding of the meanings of his works. The images are only one of the poet's means of communication. But as such they are im- portant, and they provide a rewarding means of entry into the complex structure of interworking parts which such a play forms. The images not only give brilliance or emotional color to individual expressions; they also point up the progress of he action and develop meanings essential to the whole The major undertaking here is to illustrate the workings of dominant images or master tropes in the Antigone. Six groups of recurrent images, forming patterns or sequences, serve to arouse and establish connections of thought, emotion and judgment from part to part of the play. They afford de- veloping insights into the nature of the characters and at the same time evoke larger issues within which the significance of the characters'actions is to be viewed. Not only does the recurrence of these images give them heightened prominence in the play; their extending relationships also permit more direct analysis of their functional or structural contributions to the work as a whole than is possible with many of the play other images. There is a further external reason for centering upon the dominant images in this way. Because our knowl- edge of the nuances of classical Greek is limited there must always be some uncertainty as to the full connotations of any image in a work of Greek poetry. This barrier is less serious in connection with a number of more or less consistent mutually supporting images than it is for the more self-con tained expressions The final two chapters draw upon the evidence of dominant images to interpret the odes and the divergent mo This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 03 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
CHAPTER I · INTRODUCTION T HIS essay centers upon one element of the Antigone, the poetic imagery, in the belief that such a study can illumine the role of Sophocles' poetry in his drama and add precision and fullness to our understanding of the meanings of his works. The images are only one of the poet's means of communication. But as such they are important, and they provide a rewarding means of entry into the complex structure of interworking parts which such a play forms. The images not only give brilliance or emotional color to individual expressions; they also point up the progress of the action and develop meanings essential to the whole. The major undertaking here is to illustrate the workings of dominant images or master tropes in the Antigone. Six groups of recurrent images, forming patterns or sequences, serve to arouse and establish connections of thought, emotion, and judgment from part to part of the play. They afford developing insights into the nature of the characters and at the same time evoke larger issues within which the significance of the characters' actions is to be viewed. Not only does the recurrence of these images give them heightened prominence in the play; their extending relationships also permit more direct analysis of their functional or structural contributions to the work as a whole than is possible with many of the play's other images. There is a further external reason for centering upon the dominant images in this way. Because our knowledge of the nuances of classical Greek is limited, there must always be some uncertainty as to the full connotations of any image in a work of Greek poetry. This barrier is less serious in connection with a number of more or less consistent, mutually supporting images than it is for the more self-contained expressions. The final two chapters draw upon the evidence of the dominant images to interpret the odes and the divergent modes This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
INTRODUCTION of expression of the two chief characters. The next to last chapter considers in detail the sensuous and ima of three of the odes in an effort to make clearer their complex meanings in the larger poem of which they are parts. The concluding chapter illustrates additional ways in which im- agery and expression are developed to depict the major char- acters and to express their divergent attitudes and their disparate methods of judgment. Here we have also close illustration for the interrelationship of the imagery and the theme of the tragedy, and an analysis of the theme andcon- tent of the tragedy is reserved to this point when it can be offered in the light of all the evidence at our disposal Primarily we are seeking to sharpen and enrich our under- standing of a play which has been enjoyed through the ages and about which much excellent criticism has already been written. No radically new interpretation of the theme of the play is to be offered. But the study of imagery can make a positive contribution to our understanding of the plays basic ideas, its inner consistency. The"idea "of the Antigone has been the subject of as much conflicting opinion as that of any play. Our study can support certain lines of this criticism with assurance and can help to reject others no less decisively It is in great measure through the patterns of imagery which the poet has created to convey and support his theme that we can know what that theme is, and it is through these patterns that we are led to share in the subtler insights and to feel some of the deepest human implications which the poet has built into and upon his theme 4. Preliminary to fuller consideration in subsequent chapters whiny set forth here briefly the nexus of ideas and attitudes which lies at the heart of the play's structure. Essentiall the Antigone is, as C. M. Bowra has recently described it, a tragedy of human folly [wherein] the illusions of men resist and rebut the claims of a higher reality and truth. "3 Blindness of soul causes a man in high position to oppose the final moral order of things, represented in particular by the raditional sanctity of burial and by a woman of unusual emotional insight and determination. For such error men are This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 03 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
INTRODUCTION of expression of the two chief characters. The next to last chapter considers in detail the sensuous and imagistic aspects of three of the odes in an effort to make clearer their complex meanings in the larger poem of which they are parts. The concluding chapter illustrates additional ways in which imagery and expression are developed to depict the major characters and to express their divergent attitudes and their disparate methods of judgment. Here we have also close illustration for the interrelationship of the imagery and the theme of the tragedy, and an analysis of the theme and 'content of the tragedy is reserved to this point when it can be offered in the light of all the evidence at our disposal. Primarily we are seeking to sharpen and enrich our understanding of a play which has been enjoyed through the ages and about which much excellent criticism has already been written. No radically new interpretation of the theme of the play is to be offered. But the study of imagery can make a positive contribution to our understanding of the play's basic ideas, its inner consistency. The "idea" of the Antigone has been the subject of as much conflicting opinion as that of any play.1 Our study can support certain lines of this criticism with assurance and can help to reject others no less decisively. It is in great measure through the patterns of imagery which the poet has created to convey and support his theme that we can know what that theme is, and it is through these patterns that we are led to share in the subtler insights and to feel some of the deepest human implications which the poet has built into and upon his theme. Preliminary to fuller consideration in subsequent chapters, we may set forth here briefly the nexus of ideas and attitudes which lies at the heart of the play's structure. Essentially the Antigone is, as C. M. Bowra has recently described it, "a tragedy of human folly [wherein] the illusions of men resist and rebut the claims of a higher reality and truth."2 Blindness of soul causes a man in high position to oppose the final moral order of things, represented in particular by the traditional sanctity of burial and by a woman of unusual emotional insight and determination. For such error men are This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
INTRODUCTION finally responsible to the gods, and they are made to suffer punishment for the destructive acts of pride and irreverence to which such blindness leads them. The theme of course is not the play. The detail which gives these general ideas con- crete and intense meaning in the play is essential for more than just a vague understanding of examine important features of this detail and see their effectiveness in developing and determining the meaning of the whole, we should come to see that sophocles in this play is an artist who works his medium so as to express much of the complexity and many of the cross-tensions of human experience. A full experiencing of the Antigone offers no banal or simple so- lution: it brings awareness of increasingly fine distinctions and of complex perceptions brought nplexly into unity. A word on Method Our attention will be directed primarily to elements of the imagery whose structural and thematic functions are readily observable. We are not concerned with general qualities of style or abstract critical principles except as they apply in the particular and there show their force and are there illustrated or verifed. Other elements of Sophocles'diction do, of course, have bearing for the full understanding of the play, as in helping to create tone, mark attitude, and project quality of mind. One,'s critical principles do, inevitably, influence ones criticism. But though this study will be seen to offer some concrete support for certain"modern"critical ideas, this is, I feel, a secondary product and one whose proof lies in the concrete analyses offered. Therefore I have not included here a lengthy description either of modern criticism or of the over-all qualities of Sophocles'style. Those who are even generally familiar with both will not require further explanations of the methods used. Anyone who desires a fuller introduction either to the general characteristics of Sophoclean diction or to the specific critical principles applied to it here will find them briefly set forth in the Postscript Briefly, three aspects of poetry, brought into special atten tion by the recent trend of criticism, underlie this study This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 03 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
INTRODUCTION finally responsible to the gods, and they are made to suffer punishment for the destructive acts of pride and irreverence to which such blindness leads them. The theme of course is not the play. The detail which gives these general ideas concrete and intense meaning in the play is essential for more than just a vague understanding of them. As we examine important features of this detail and see their effectiveness in developing and determining the meaning of the whole, we should come to see that Sophocles in this play is an artist who works his medium so as to express much of the complexity and many of the cross-tensions of human experience. A full experiencing of the Antigone offers no banal or simple solution: it brings awareness of increasingly fine distinctions and of complex perceptions brought complexly into unity. cA Word on {Method Our attention will be directed primarily to elements of the imagery whose structural and thematic functions are readily observable. We are not concerned with general qualities of style or abstract critical principles except as they apply in the particular and there show their force and are there illustrated or verified. Other elements of Sophocles' diction do, of course, have bearing for the full understanding of the play, as in helping to create tone, mark attitude, and project quality of mind. One's critical principles do, inevitably, influence one's criticism. But though this study will be seen to offer some concrete support for certain "modern" critical ideas, this is, I feel, a secondary product and one whose proof lies in the concrete analyses offered. Therefore I have not included here a lengthy description either of modern criticism or of the over-all qualities of Sophocles' style. Those who are even generally familiar with both will not require further explanations of the methods used. Anyone who desires a fuller introduction either to the general characteristics of Sophoclean diction or to the specific critical principles applied to it here will find them briefly set forth in the Postscript. Briefly, three aspects of poetry, brought into special attention by the recent trend of criticism, underlie this study. This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
INTRODUCTION They are: the richness or multivalence of poetic language, the interanimation of the parts and the sources of tension within poems, and the fact that " in the best poetry metaphor is not merely a prettification but rather a primary element in the structure, a basic constituent in form, These facts of poetic language and structure have not been totally unrecognized or unexplored in the field of Greek poetry. Writing sometime tbout A D. IOO, Longinus "was touching on these principles, or at least the second of them, when he praised Sappho's poem for its exact and intense unification of conflicting images nd also in the sections verbal structure. And in the last few years W.B. Stanfords excellent studies have done much to clarify the role of meta- phor, The presence of intensifying ambiguities, and the use of recurrent imagery in Greek poetry. Another eminent name may be added from the classical field. Writing in I942 Eduard Frankel exhorted students of greek tragedy to a method of approach which would center upon critical words cr word clusters and exploit contextual interrelationships of meaning. He wrote, "We may begin with observing words, their meaning, their structure, and their order, and end with observing characteristic habits of the poet's mind in shaping dramatic characters, bringing about a tragic tension, and revealing his religious convictions. So although this method is relatively new and is not yet completely developed for Greek poetry (which presents the special problems of a "dead language), precedent is good and the obj worth attaining In any case, and certainly in any extended view of western literature, only momentary surprise should be occasioned by the applicability for so ancient a work as the Antigone of methods of criticism whose development as effective methods of poetic analysis has largely occurred within the twentieth century. The "modernity"of classical antiquity has often been demonstrated. In literature particularly, the Greco- Roman has been such a strong and many-sided influence upon the English tradition that there is little cause to wonder at 6 This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 03 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
INTRODUCTION They are: the richness or multivalence of poetic language, the interanimation of the parts and the sources of tension within poems, and the fact that "in the best poetry metaphor is not merely a prettification but rather a primary element in the structure, a basic constituent in form."3 These facts of poetic language and structure have not been totally unrecognized or unexplored in the field of Greek poetry. Writing sometime about A.D. ioo, "Longinus" was touching on these principles, or at least the second of them, when he praised Sappho's poem for its exact and intense unification of conflicting images and also in the sections where he treats "composition" or verbal structure.4 And in the last few years W. B. Stanford's excellent studies have done much to clarify the role of metaphor, the presence of intensifying ambiguities, and the use of recurrent imagery in Greek poetry.5 Another eminent name may be added from the classical field. Writing in 1942 Eduard Frankel exhorted students of Greek tragedy to a method of approach which would center upon critical words cr word clusters and exploit contextual interrelationships of meaning. He wrote, "We may begin with observing words, their meaning, their structure, and their order, and end with observing characteristic habits of the poet's mind in shaping dramatic characters, bringing about a tragic tension, and revealing his religious convictions."6 So although this method is relatively new and is not yet completely developed for Greek poetry (which presents the special problems of a "dead" language), precedent is good and the objective eminently worth attaining. In any case, and certainly in any extended view of western literature, only momentary surprise should be occasioned by the applicability for so ancient a work as the Antigone of methods of criticism whose development as effective methods of poetic analysis has largely occurred within the twentieth century. The "modernity" of classical antiquity has often been demonstrated. In literature particularly, the GrecoRoman has been such a strong and many-sided influence upon the English tradition that there is little cause to wonder at This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
