Studies in the Use of Myth in Sophocles' ‘Philoctetes’ and the ‘Orestes’ of Euripides
The following study is an examination of selected aspects of the mythical paradigms presented in Sophocles' Philoctetes and Euripides' Orestes in an attempt to define the concerns that are shared by these two very different dramas. The first part deals with the characterization of Neoptole...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
1976
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| In: |
Traditio
Year: 1976, Volume: 32, Issue: 1, Pages: 29-95 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The following study is an examination of selected aspects of the mythical paradigms presented in Sophocles' Philoctetes and Euripides' Orestes in an attempt to define the concerns that are shared by these two very different dramas. The first part deals with the characterization of Neoptolemus in the Philoctetes and discusses how the dramatist departed from the customary view of this character and appears to have been influenced by the figure of Telemachus in the Odyssey. The following section advances the thesis that in a number of significant regards Euripides' Orestes can be construed as a response to the paradigms of conduct presented in the Philoctetes the year before. Since the approach I will employ, while not new, differs from ‘standard’ procedure, in these prefatory remarks I would like to comment on why I have done so. Most current studies of individual dramas or the genre as a whole are relatively conservative in their approach; interpretation is, for the most part, restricted to the direct evidence of the text, analogies with other texts, and studies of particular techniques such as examinations of plot types and different forms of dramatic action. While this restraint has placed our understanding of the genre on a secure footing, I believe that there are certain important aspects of the medium for which it is not totally suited. The most important of these in my opinion concerns the evocation of mythical paradigms which, while they may lie beyond the immediate context of the drama, nevertheless shaped the author's conception and the audience's response to the characters on stage. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-5508 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Traditio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S036215290000547X |