For over a century the ancient Greek philosophers have amazed men of letters in the West. Since thefifth century BC tragedy as a genre has occupied a prominent place in Athens and through theatre this fascination has given rise to interpretations of all kinds: philosophical, humanistic, political and moral. These ideological readings of tragedy have most significantly focused on Sophocles. This dissertation offers a survey of these readings which have in time become contemporary myths. Sophocles’ works are ideologically embedded within cultural spectacle honoring Dionysus in Athens. Was it necessary to universalize and immortalize these western interpretations and reincarnate Sophocles’ characters, making Antigone and Oedipus Rex inimitable models of tragedy and mortal existence? This study proposes a critical reading of the Sophoclean vision of tragedy through an analysis of certain aesthetic elements (song, music) which allow a rethinking of the ideological readings observed in contemporary criticism
