Greek Tragedy (1)

ἐν δὲ τῷ σέβας

ἀστῶν φόβος τε ξυγγενὴς (Aesch.Eum.690-1)

Since Oliver Taplin’s seminal work on performance was published in 1978, most scholars have assumed that Aegisthus, in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, enters from the side of the stage, rather than from inside the palace doors.

The Chorus of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon frequently utilizes vivid descriptions when narrating events that take place both onstage and offstage. Visuality is not an unusual tool in Aeschylus or in choral poetry generally. However, such descriptive methods are not applied universally; the Chorus of the Agamemnon only employs richly detailed illustrations for certain characters. This paper will show that the Chorus reserves visual description almost exclusively for women, while its descriptions of men focus primarily on action or internal struggle.

The Philoctetes is remarkable for its emphasis on embodied experience. For example, the play is framed by the sense of hearing: it begins with Philoctetes’ repulsive, cacophonous cries that drove his community to expel him (9-11;201-18)—sounds that overwhelm internal as well as external audiences (see Worman 2000, 21-2; Nooter 2012, 125-6)—and ends with the ‘longed for’ sound of the voice of a trusted philos (1445: φθέγμα ποθεινόν).