Tragic Tradition

In the aftermath of the defeat at Salamis, characters in Aeschylus’ Persae struggle to process the implications of the disaster for the political order of the Persian state. The question is addressed in the two catalogues that the Chorus recites of the Persian soldiers who fight and perish in the battle, one before (20-64) and one after (955-1001) the Messenger announces the defeat. I argue that stylistic modulations between the catalogues enact a political dispute between the Chorus and the royal family about how to frame the stakes of the disaster.

This paper builds on previous analyses of emotions that bridge Senecan philosophy and tragedy (e.g., Staley 1975 and 1982, Schiesaro 1997 and 2003, Rodríguez Cidre 2000, Guastella 2001, Galán 2003, Budzowska 2012: 123-40) by offering a case study of hope and fear in Troades. In general, the play uses a “cyclical and symmetrical” organization featuring hopeful and fearful episodes in alternating fashion to juxtapose these emotions (Keulen 2001: 12; cf. Draper 1990, González Vázquez 1996).

This paper argues that Seneca’s Medea draws on Ovid’s Niobe narrative (Met. 6.146-312) to reframe the parental identities of both mother and father: Medea is characterized simultaneously as failed mother (Niobe) and avenging supermother (Latona), while Jason takes on Niobe’s maternal qualities.

In this talk, I argue that early readers of Sophocles saw persuasiveness, logical plot construction, and emotional impact as particularly Sophoclean qualities. As evidence, I use the ancient tragic scholia, where these terms from ancient literary criticism cluster together frequently and significantly in the scholia to Sophocles.

BLACK MEDEAS in Germany: Hans Henny Jahnn's and Paul Heyse's Medeae