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/termsINTRODUCTION 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 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 so￾lution: 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 atten￾tion 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