Beauty of Form and Concept: The Aesthetics of Late Euripidean Tragedy

Euripides’ late tragedies represent some of the most controversial works in the Greek tragic corpus. This thesis explores their aesthetics – that is, stylistic features of language, characterisation, and concept, together with the impact these might be expected to have on an audience. Each of the first three chapters treats one of the most difficult tragedies: "Phoenissae", "Iphigenia in Aulis", and "Orestes". A final chapter analyses "Bacchae", which has commonly been understood as a reaction against the avant-gardism of Euripides’ other late works. The focus throughout is on the most contested features of these plays – their lyric elements. I offer a close analysis of the texts themselves, with a particular emphasis on self-referential and self-conscious passages. Comparison with the work of other tragedians and with non-dramatic lyric, especially the New Music, and readings of contemporary comic reception also feature prominently. In doing so, I consider the significance of their intellectual and philosophical associations. I take inspiration from theoretical material ranging from ancient aesthetic concepts to modern cognitive theory. A number of interconnected themes emerge. Most prominently, these plays represent broadly analogous negotiations of the ‘gap’ between the audience and the subject matter of the play, in which aestheticisation marked by a distancing effect and a conspicuous artificiality predominates. This takes several forms, ranging from the presentation of the characters, setting, or chorus to various iterations of formal ornamentation in language and concept. In many cases a tension arises between the effect of such aestheticisation and the horror aroused by the grim action of the tragedy in which it occurs, although it can sometimes also be understood to deaden the emotive impact of the content expressed. The high artistic complexity of these works also becomes apparent, not only in their frequent virtuosic combination of stylistic features traditional and progressive, but in their exploration of novel aesthetic spheres – most strikingly manifested in what I identify as the inherent visuality of the text. The sheer dominance of aesthetics in late Euripidean tragedy – including in the "Bacchae", which combines many of the characteristics of his other late work with more traditional elements – is remarkable. An appreciation of their aesthetic features is vital for a truly profound comprehension of Euripides’ late tragedies, which have often been subject to criticism for many perceived faults: principally insufficiently ‘tragic’ tone, excessively florid ornamentation, and the ‘irrelevance’ of their choral odes. My thesis breaks the mould of such scholarship – which can be understood to have its roots in a lengthy tradition of misappreciation of the aesthetic qualities I identify – and also of the current predominance of the socio-political approach to Euripides’ work (and indeed to Greek tragedy in general). It opens new vistas onto the artistry of these plays, allowing us to appreciate them on their own terms, revitalising our understanding of them, and broadening our conception of what Greek tragedy could be.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Ellis, Marcus Trystan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hunter, Richard Lawrence

• Euripides
• Aesthetics
• Tragedy
• Chorus
• Genre
• Lyric
• New Music
• Self-Referentiality
• Reception
• Cognitive Theory

Licence

• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.94217

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/346804