Aesthetic Response and Traditional Social Valuation in Euripides¿ ¿Electra¿

Tragic ¿Kunstsprache¿ and the ¿kharakt¿r¿ of Heroes
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-3-11-061310-0
Verlag: De Gruyter

Buch, Englisch, Band 379, 162 Seiten, HC runder Rücken kaschiert, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 452 g

Reihe: Beiträge zur Altertumskunde

Euripides’ Electra opened up for its audience an opportunity to become self-aware as to the appeal of tragic Kunstsprache: it both reflected and sustained traditional, aristocratically-inflected assumptions about the continuity of appearance and substance, even in a radical democracy. A complex analogy between social and aesthetic valuation is played out and brought to light. The characterization of Orestes early in the play demonstrates how social appearances made clear the identity of well-born, and how they were still assumed to indicate superior virtue and agency. On the aesthetic side of the analogy, one of the functions of tragic diction, as an essential indication of heroic character and agency, comes into view in a dramatic and thematic sequence that begins with Achilles ode and ends with the planning of the murders. Serious doubts are created as to whether Orestes will realize the assumed potential inherent in his heroic genealogy and, at the same time, as to whether the components of his character as an aesthetic construct are congruent with such qualities and agency. Both sides of this complex analogy are thus problematized, and, at a metapoetic level, its nature and bases are exposed for reflection.

Zielgruppe

Scholars of Classical Studies, in particular of Greek Literature.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Baechle, Nicholas

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Griechische & Byzantinische Literatur

Über Autor(innen)

Nicholas Baechle, Hanover College, Hanover, IN, U.S.