Helping Friends & Harming Enemies

This book is a detailed study of the plays of Sophocles through examination of a single ethical principle. Sophocles has traditionally been considered the least philosophical of the three great Greek tragedians, but Professor Whitlock Blundell offers an important new examination of the ethical content of the plays by focusing primarily on the traditional Greek popular moral code of 'helping friends and harming enemies'. Five of the extant plays are discussed in detail both from a dramatic and an ethical standpoint, and the author concludes that ethical themes are not only integral to each drama, but are subjected to an implicit critique through the tragical consequences to which they give rise. Greek scholars and students of Greek drama and Greek thought will welcome this book, which is presented in such a way as to be accessible to specialists and non-specialists alike. No knowledge of Greek is required.

Review: '... all who take Sophocles seriously will have to take this book on board.' Oliver Taplin, The Times Literary Supplement

'... this book will ... have its well-deserved place among the important studies on the poet.' Mnemosyne

"The presentation is thorough and readable, and the footnotes provide more than enough trails for the curious to follow into the secondary literature. Besides covering its stated theme, the book is in fact a good, up-to-date introduction to ethical issues in Sophocles generally." Classical World

"This book belongs firmly within the best tradition of Sophoclean interpretation....a good book: it discusses important questions responsibly and thoughtfully." Ruth Scodel, Ancient Philosophy