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The influence of myth on the fifth-century audience’s understanding and appreciation of the tragedies of Aeschylus
Full text linkThis thesis seeks to establish how the fifth-century audience’s perception of Aeschylean tragedy was influenced by their prior knowledge of the myths on which the dramas were based. Thus we study references to these myths in earlier epic and lyric sources in an attempt to detect borrowings and deviations from the earlier material on the part of the poet. The earliest surviving tragedy, the Persae, has a historical basis and so mythical knowledge is supplanted by the audience's own first-hand experience of the recent war. We see how foreknowledge of the Greek victory at Salamis will prove a deep influence on the audience s perception of the presentation of the enemy court and how Aeschylus presents the Persians as being utterly devastated by the defeat. Likewise an appreciation of the Seven Against Thebes is greatly enhanced if we remember that from the very beginning of the drama the audience were anticipating the double fratricide from their knowledge of this events in previous versions of the myth. During the Supplices, the audience would have suspected that not only would the Argives accept the supplication of the Danaids but also that these helpless girls would shortly murder their bridegrooms on their wedding-night, and Aeschylus includes many dark hints at this future event during the course of his play. Our study of the myth of Agamemnon will enable us to appreciate the exploitation of audience expectation throughout the Oresteia and their foreknowledge that murder is plotted against Agamemnon on his return and that Orestes will return to exact vengeance proves vital to the tragic effect. In addition we detect certain areas in which Aeschylus may diverge from his inherited material, such as his presentation of Clytemnestra as the sole unaided killer of her husband and his inclusion of a trial of Orestes before the court of the Areopagus. Thus it is hoped that by considering the mythical knowledge shared by both Aeschylus and his audience we are able to gain a fuller appreciation of the effects sought by the poet in the fifth-century theatre
Aeschylus Eumenides
No full textThe "Eumenides", the concluding drama in Aeschylus' sole surviving trilogy, the "Oresteia", is not only one of the most admired Greek tragedies, but also one of the most controversial and contested, both to specialist scholars and public intellectuals. It stands at the crux of the controversies over the relationship between the fledgling democracy of Athens and the dramas it produced during the City Dionysia, and over the representation of women in the theatre and their implied status in Athenian society. The "Eumenides" enacts the trial of Agamemnon's son Orestes, who had been ordered under the threat of punishment by the god Apollo to murder his mother Clytemnestra, who had earlier killed Agamemnon.In the "Eumenides", Orestes, hounded by the Eumenides (Furies), travels first to Delphi to obtain ritual purgation of his mother's blood, and then, at Apollo's urging, to Athens to seek the help of Athena, who then decides herself that an impartial jury of Athenians should decide the matter. Aeschylus thus presents a drama that shows a growing awareness of the importance of free will in Athenian thought through the mythologized institution of the first jury trial.Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- 1. Aeschylus the Athenian -- 2. Eumenides and Greek Myth and Religion -- 3. The Theatre of Aeschylus -- 4. The Play and its Staging -- 5. Justice, Law, and Athenian Politics in Eumenides -- 6. The Reception of Eumenides: Ancient Tragedy, Gender, and the Modern World -- Notes -- Guide to Further Reading -- Bibliography -- Glossary -- Chronology -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- H -- I -- J -- K -- M -- N -- O -- P -- S -- T -- V -- ZThe "Eumenides", the concluding drama in Aeschylus' sole surviving trilogy, the "Oresteia", is not only one of the most admired Greek tragedies, but also one of the most controversial and contested, both to specialist scholars and public intellectuals. It stands at the crux of the controversies over the relationship between the fledgling democracy of Athens and the dramas it produced during the City Dionysia, and over the representation of women in the theatre and their implied status in Athenian society. The "Eumenides" enacts the trial of Agamemnon's son Orestes, who had been ordered under the threat of punishment by the god Apollo to murder his mother Clytemnestra, who had earlier killed Agamemnon.In the "Eumenides", Orestes, hounded by the Eumenides (Furies), travels first to Delphi to obtain ritual purgation of his mother's blood, and then, at Apollo's urging, to Athens to seek the help of Athena, who then decides herself that an impartial jury of Athenians should decide the matter. Aeschylus thus presents a drama that shows a growing awareness of the importance of free will in Athenian thought through the mythologized institution of the first jury trial.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Hesiod and Aeschylus
No full textThis book, first published in 1949, has long been recognized as the standard work on Hesiod's influence on other Athenian poets, particularly Aeschylus.Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- PART ONE: HESIOD -- CHAPTER I. The Theogony -- Introduction -- The Origin of the World: Three Generations of Gods -- Powers of Good and of Evil in the World of Hesiod -- The Role of Zeus in the Theogony -- Cosmology and Theogony -- The Synthesis of Old and New Figures, Earlier and Later Generations -- CHAPTER II. The Works and Days -- PART TWO: SOLON AND AESCHYLUS -- Introduction -- CHAPTER I. Solon -- CHAPTER II. Aeschylus: The Prometheia -- Zeus and Prometheus -- The Crisis of the Olympian Dynasty -- CHAPTER III. Aeschylus: The Eumenides -- Index -- AUTHORS -- A -- C -- D -- E -- H -- I -- M -- O -- P -- S -- T -- V -- X -- DEITIES AND CONCEPTS -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- W -- ZThis book, first published in 1949, has long been recognized as the standard work on Hesiod's influence on other Athenian poets, particularly Aeschylus.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Representation and novelty in Aeschylus' Theoroi
Full text linkThis article argues in favour of the view that in Aeschylus' Theoroi (aka Isthmiastai) the satyrs had absconded from Dionysus’ choral training, and dedicate a set of votive masks on Poseidon’s Isthmian temple. I propose that at the end of fr. 78c Dionysus offers them javelins and suggests that they dance a pyrrhikhe. This plot rests on a blurring of the distinctions between satyr, human character and human performer. I interpret how Aeschylus managed plot, scenery, masks, costume and language in order to transform this blurring to elicit from the audience humorous reflection on the nature of dramatic innovation and of drama as a representational medium
Prometheus Bound
No full textThis is a new translation, with introduction and notes, of Aeschylus\u27 tragedy Prometheus Bound. --author-supplied descriptio
Sophrosyne in Aeschylus
Full text linkThis is a study on the semantics of sophrosyne, and the importance of this culturally significant term for the political vocabulary of Aeschylus. The author argues that the core of the semantics of sophrosyne is the status-based behavioral propriety within a hierarchy. By examining all the occurrences of the term’s cognates in the Aeschylean corpus, the author concludes that Aeschylus used sophrosyne as a tool in a pro-democratic rhetoric. Given that the deviance from status-based propriety in Aeschylean tragedy results in socio-political catastrophes, the monarchic societies of Greek myth and Persia are presented as political environments that endanger sophrosyne, whereas democratic processes as its bulwark
Dionysus Chooses Aeschylus
No full textThis article is devoted to the analysis of the early stage work of one of the first tragedians of the Greek theatre. Aeschylus is called the father of tragedy since he transformed the original theatrical performance with one actor and the cantata choir, released solemn choral lyric poetry from the dithyrambic genre to a fullfledged drama. Aeschylus was first to realize the importance of a dramatic conflict for the show on the stage of the heroic mythical legends. He introduced a second actor to make this show possible. The dramatic conflict was initiated and resolved in front of the audience, involved them in the action. Aeschylus gave the audience the possibility of empathy to heroes of the tragedy in their thoughts and doubts before they act the way it was known from the mythical stories. The title of the article when Aeschylus was chosen by God Dionysus to whom the plays were devoted on the Great Dionysus feast in Athens, proceeds from the comedy of Aristophanes “The Frogs.” This Comedy is considered to be the first experience of literary criticism in Ancient Greece. In the agon of the comedy, Aeschylus and Euripides are in Hades, the realm of the dead, and are competing for the right to be the first Greek tragedian. Dionysus is concerned about the lack of the theatrical repertoire at his feast since the great tragedians have already died. He descends into Hades to bring back the soul of Euripides but gives the primacy to Aeschylus and chooses him. Dionysus recognizes the educational significance of his tragedies “The Persians” and “Seven against Thebes”. The heroism and patriotism of the tragedies of Aeschylus are necessary for citizens of the Polis. The address to the comedy of Aristophanes is caused by a quotation from it in the anonymous biography of Aeschylus in his manuscripts. The biographer lists the merits of this playwright in the development of the Attic theater and leads the words of Dionysus to Aeschylus calling him “the first of the Hellenes” (Aristophanes “The Frogs”, 1004–1005). According to Dionysus as a hero of the comedy as well as the choice of Aristophanes, the tragedy of Aeschylus expresses the moral values of a generation of Athenians who defended the independence of the Motherland during the GreekPersian war. For this generation of citizens, the idea of kindness and justice has the enduring value and is sanctioned, as the Greeks believed, by the gods. The author focuses on one of the earliest tragedies of Aeschylus “The Suppliants”. The conflict of the drama lies in the choice of the position of the main hero Pelasgos, king of Argos, whether he should defend king Danaus’ daughters from the claims of their suitors. The article examines various versions of the mythical story of Io wanderings and the fate of the Danaides. The author analyzes lexical and poetic means used in choral parties of this tragedy. Aeschylus in the image mode leans on the poetics and stylistics of dithyrambic cantatas. In choral songslaments of the Danaides, he uses tunes of birds and intertwines them with wellknown myths about the transformation of heroes into different birds. In the poetics of Aeschylus, the seascape motives are presented. Since the early tragedy has still few opportunities to show the action, Aeschylus actively involves stichomythia when the characters say one or two poems. This method creates expression and tension, accelerates the action of the tragedy. Namely in his early tragedies, more closely related to the Greek choral lyric, the tragedian chooses true poetic means to create an image of the hero and thereby lays the foundations for the drama theatre of Ancient Greece as the future theatre of Europe
Tragoediae
Full text linkAeschylus (525-456 до н. э.). .
Tragoediae [Текст] . Т. 1. / Aeschylus ; ed. F. H. Bothe. - Lipsiae : Sumptibus Librariae Hahnianae, 1831. - X, 350 S. - Изд. на древнегреч. с комм. на лат. - 1.00 р.
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Prometheus Vinctus. -13-110 S.
Supplices. -113-184 S.
Septem adversus Thebas. -187-264 S.
Persae. -267-350 S
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