Abstract
THE MEANING OF THE Trachiniae is revealed to us superficially through the obvious implications of the causation and the contrasted presentation of the two protagonists,' but more subtly through the theme of knowledge, explored throughout the play as events and situations are translated into epistemological terms. Cognitive and perceptual expressions occur with unusual frequency and with a reflective concentration that compels the auditor to ponder the sources of information and their reliability, and the inevitably personal and subjective responses often accorded this information by characters of the drama. The fundamental truths of the play are conventional enough. The two key passages are the opening lines with the famous X'byos that a man's happiness can only be known when he is dead, that is when the full course of his life is known, and the parodos with its notion of the vicissitudes of fortune cast upon mortals by the son of Cronus. These vicissitudes of joy and sorrow and of knowledge and ignorance are conveyed here through the beautiful light-and-dark imagery of the sun and star-spangled night, and of waves in succession. Spangled Night (albXa py4 [94]) from its own
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