Author Description

The theme of Sophocles' Philoctetes is of lasting significance. It revolves round Neoptolemus' struggles with his conscience, and Philoctetes' strength in adversity and refusal to accept any compromise. Sophocles explores the relationship between the two central characters with powerful subtlety. The main emphasis in Professor Webster's commentary is on explaining the impact of the play through metre and language rather than on the examination and comparison of points of grammatical and syntactical usage. He deals with all the essential problems of the play at a level appropriate to the needs of students in the upper forms of schools and at university.