Ritual Irony: Poetry and Sacrifice in EuripidesExamining Euripides' representation of sacrificial ritual against the background of late fifth-century Athens, Helene P. Foley shows that each of these plays confronts directly the difficulty of making an archaic poetic tradition relevant to a democratic society. She explores the important mediating role played by choral poetry and ritual in the plays, asserting that Euripides' sacrificial metaphors and ritual performances link an anachronistic mythic ideal with a world dominated by "chance" or an incomprehensible divinity. Foley utilizes the ideas and methodology of contemporary literary theory and symbolic anthropology, addressing issues central to the emerging dialogue between the two fields. Her conclusions have important implications for the study of Greek tragedy as a whole and for our understanding of Euripides' tragic irony, his conception of religion, and the role of his choral odes. |
From inside the book
Page 269
... Shakespeare and the Traditions of Comedy . Cambridge . Sandys , J. E. , ed . 1900. The Bacchae of Euripides . Cambridge . Sansone , David . 1975. “ The Sacrifice Motif in Euripides ' IT . ” TAPA 105 : 283-95 . 1978. " The Bacchae as ...
... Shakespeare and the Traditions of Comedy . Cambridge . Sandys , J. E. , ed . 1900. The Bacchae of Euripides . Cambridge . Sansone , David . 1975. “ The Sacrifice Motif in Euripides ' IT . ” TAPA 105 : 283-95 . 1978. " The Bacchae as ...
Contents
Preface | 9 |
Drama and Sacrifice | 17 |
The Iphigenia in Aulis | 65 |
Copyright | |
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Achilles Aeschylean Aeschylus Agamemnon Agave agōn Amphitryon animal Antigone Antigone's aretē argues Aristophanes Artemis Athenian Athens audience Aulis Bacchae becomes bowman brothers Burkert Cadmus celebration characters choral odes chorus cles Clytemnestra comedy comic context costume Creon crisis cult culture dance Detienne Dionysiac Dionysus discussion divine drama earlier Electra emphasizes epic epinician Eteocles Euripidean Euripides exile festival final scenes Girard god's gods Greek tragedy Helen Hera Heracles hero heroic heroism hoplite human sacrifice Iliad interpretation Iphigenia Jocasta killing literary Lycus madness maenads marriage marriage and sacrifice mask Mastronarde Megara Menoeceus messenger murder myth mythical Odysseus Oedipus offers onstage Orestes Panhellenic Pentheus peripety Phoenissae Pindar play plot poet poetic poetry polis political Polyneices praise prologue relation religious rites ritual role Rudhardt sacri sacrificial death social song Sophocles speech stasimon suppliant action symbolic theatrical Theban Thebes Theseus tion Tiresias tradition tragic Vernant victim violence women Zeus