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Sophocles’ Trachiniae and Aeschylus Agamemnon: interrelation or convergence of structures?
Get PDFThe author of the article draws our attention to the similarities between the two plays, i.e. Sophocles’ Trachiniae and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. These similarities apply to the plot structure, the structure of characters, and the time and space dimensions of drama. In author’s opinion, the observed similarities and convergences prove that The Trachiniae appeared in the period when Sophocles was still under his predecessor’s infuence and the drama belongs to the earliest of his tragedies that survived
The Auditorium and the Audience of the Greek Ancient Theatre
No full textThe author deals with the auditorium of the Greek theatre in a twofold meaning: as a part of the stage building and as its audience who took seats in the theatre during performances. The first part of the paper depicts the following issues from the historical point of view: the auditorium of the Greek theatre as instanced by the most characteristic remnants of the ancient theatrical buildings, that is the size of the audience, its division into blocks of seats, benches for the audience, seats and seats of honour.
The second part deals with the theatrical audience: their number, their social composition, their behaviour during performances, relations between the stage and the audience. The latter aspect is more particularly exposed in the paper; the close relations between the spectators and actors have been discussed on the example of the texts of dramas (tragedy and ancient comedy) that have been preserved until now. As far as other particular issues are concerned, one should stress that the author is in favour of women in the theatre both during agons (dramatic contests) of tragedies, and in comedies, disputing in this matter with the opposite view presented by S. Goldhill (of 1997)
History of Transmission and Criticism of Aeschylus' Texts
No full textThe subject of the article is ”a short history of transmission and criticism of Aeschylus' texts” including the work on the text conducted by the ancient − Alexandrian − grammarians and philologists in the Augustan Age and in the period of the Roman empire, as well as that done in the Middle Ages and later − till modern times, with special attention paid to the recent editions of the text of Aeschylus' plays − critical ones supplied with commentaries. The author presents a review of editions of Aeschylus' works. To do this he avails himself of the abundant literature on the subject, he quotes information on ancient authors (among others Quintilian and Plutarch); he also mentions the fact that there are short quotations from Aeschylus in the works by Clement of Alexandria − a Christian writer living in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A. D.
The article points to the reverence which has surrounded Aeschylus during the ages of studies of the text of his plays up to modern times and it fills the gap in the Polish language caused by lack of this kind of work. Since the edition of Tragedia grecka (”The Greek Tragedy”) by S. Witkowski in Lvov in 1930 with only a short history of Aeschylus' text and its most important editions there has not been such a work.
The aim of the article is to honour the 500th anniversary of the criticism of Aeschylus' texts started by M. Suliardus, which anniversary falls on 1995
Spatial Approach in the Bacchae of Euripides
No full textThe presented world in the Bacchae of Euripides is extremely rich and extended, therefore it calls for a broader space than the place of action itself, understood as a space available for the recipients of this play in visual perception. The scenic action of the Bacchae takes place in front of the royal palace, but this is not the only place of dramatic events. The theme of the tragedy is not only the history of Pentheus, but also the dissemination of the cult of Dionysus as a universal religion. Accordingly, the places of the cult in Greece and Asia Minor, above all the mountains of Cithaeron, are constantly brought to mind. In those places the Thebanese Bacchantes worship this god with singing and dancing. The poet transfers also the tragic ending of the action to the mountains of Cithaeron: Pentheus’ torn apart by his mother and the attendant Thebanese women. The author describes the character of the space referred to in the Bacchae, showing the way of its presentation on the stage, and describes its functions in the text
The Messenger's Speech in Euripides' Hecuba (518-582)
No full textThe author carries out a literary analysis of the messenger's speech in Hecuba and seeks to grasp its function in this drama. Therefore he presents the narrative situation of the speech, its character of a report and information, but also interpretation and evaluation. He pinpoints that the role of a messenger in this tragedy is fulfilled by the non-anonymous narrator, yet one of the figures actively involved in the action of the play. It is Talthybius, a man marked with great character, who is able not only to relate the event which has taken place beyond the stage space, but also he may give the event a proper dimension. It is through him that Euripides conveys his audience a lesson that in extreme situations one may preserve human dignity, respect for oneself, or even gain recognition from his enemies. Talthybius' report goes beyond the customary function of the messenger speeches, whose main aim to bring to the stage some events from a remote space. In its interpretative and evaluative structure Talthybius' speech confers a deeper sense of a universal character on the event which is being related. In this function it reminds us the choral chants from Aeschylus' tragedies
The Socio-Economic Situation of the Actors in Ancient Greece
No full textOn the basis source materials and the studies, the author, and it is the first time in the Polish language, depicts more extensively the various aspects of the socio-economic situation in the actors of ancient Greece. He proves that their circumstances were different than in the Roman times, or over long centuries and in modern and medieval Europe until the twentieth century, in which time they were rather despised. The actors (protagonists) in Greece had always been rated highly in social hierarchy, enjoyed respect and received wide recognition. The most prominent of them made an international name for themselves and made great fortunes. Establishing trade unions, they not only could successfully defend their own group interests, but also secured for themselves various privileges, and to a great extent influenced the development of literature and stage art. They also influenced on politics, fulfilling diplomatic functions, on occasions becoming friends of the Macedonian rulers, and later their successors in the Hellenistic epoch. Such characteristics of their lives as stardom, huge income, moral scandals and membership of the upper calsses remind us of the present times
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Aeschylean Reminiscences in the Parodos of Sophocles’ Antigone
No full textThe paper discusses some similarities between Aeschylus and the parodos of Sophocles’ Antigone. The chorus in the Antigone is a group of royal counsellors whose social status reminds us of the choruses of Persians and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. As such, it plays similar functions: it is dramatic and plays the role of a commentary. Like the choruses in Aeschylus, in which the old tragedian penetrates into the past following the principle of retrospection, Sophocles in the introductory part of his chorus also refers to a scene of the event from pre-action (Vorgeschichte) and submits it to a commentary in lyrical and reflective manifestations. Introducing narrative elements into the song of parodos, Sophocles – following Aeschylus – does not make his chorus relate the events in a chronological order, but uses “the technique of editing”. He cuts them into certain units and remodels them in time in order to submit them to poetization or reflection, or to expose them as meaningful for the further course of action. In the final part of the paper, the author discusses Aeschylean reminiscences which he noticed in the linguistic layer of the parodos
The First Sports Coverage? (Sophocles, Electra, vv. 680-763)
No full textThe author focuses on Educator’s story about the alleged death of Orestes that is found in the very center of Sophocles’ Electra, vv. 680-762). However, this story is interesting for him not as an integral part of the tragedy but as a kind of sports report of a chariot race. He argues that although the report is not a real coverage of a sports event, we can perceive a kind of prototype for such a report that may be based on a real event, as it contains several elements that we expect from such a report. It brilliantly depicts the atmosphere of sports competitions, the tension prevailing among the competitors, and it shows the changing moods of the spectators present on the hippodrome. Sophocles’ commentator is an expert in the discipline he is talking about, he knows the competitors, their origin, as well as the advantages of particular teams. He can guess the charioteers’ tactical plans and intentions, he knows about how a chariot should be driven, he can transmit a competitor’s joy at his success and the tragedy of his defeat. He does not dazzle the readers with too many details, but he rather refers to their knowledge and experience, leaving a lot of space to their creative imagination. All in all we get a report that maintains a high standard and is brilliantly composed and dramatized and that keeps the readers in suspense, first awakening interest in him, and then evoking strong emotions; it can keep the atmosphere that is created in this way till the very end. The multitude of artistic means that are employed here is subjected to these ends.
The Introduction shows earlier attempts at describing sporting events that are found in Homer’s works and in lyrical poets, with particular stress on Pindar’s poems
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