Euripides, the poet of destructive passions

Authors

Keywords:

Fragmentary plays. Gods. Passions. Family tensions.

Abstract

The speculation that ancient and modern authors and scholars have made over the millennia about Euripides’ preference for female themes seems inexhaustible. Through this motif, the poet accompanied the evolution of Greek society and culture, symbolically transforming heroines of the past, configured by myth, into women subject to other historical contingencies and social criteria in use in Athenian 5th century BC. Of the many approaches to the subject, our reflection will focus on one particular perspective: female vulnerability in the face of harassment, the domestic, social or even political repercussions of an unwanted rape, family and social rejection, and the punishment meted out directly to the protagonist of the episode, condemned to exile or death; as well as, indirectly, the cruelty that targets an innocent child, whose future seems annihilated by the tensions reflected on him. There is no doubt that these issues reflected the concerns that were prevalent in Euripides’ universe, in the name of defending the dignity of families and preserving heritage.

Author Biography

Maria de Fátima Silva, Universidade de Coimbra (CECH)

Professora Catedrática Jubilada do Grupo de Estudos Clássicos da Universidade de Coimbra. A sua investigação incide sobretudo em matérias de teatro grego (tragédia e comédia), historiografia, estudos de receção, em particular sobre literatura dramática, poesia e conto de inspiração clássica na Literatura Portuguesa. É autora de traduções de Aristófanes, Menandro, Heródoto, Cáriton, Aristóteles, Teofrasto, Pausânias. Coordenou e colaborou em volumes publicados pela Brill – Portrayals of Antigone in Portugal, Portraits of Medea in Portugal, The Greek Heroines in Brazilian Literature and Performance – pela Cambridge Scholars Publishing – A Special Modelo of Classical Reception. Summaries and Short Stories – e pela Aracne – Heroes and Anti-Heroes.

References

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KARAMANOU, I. The Maiden’s Clash with her Natal Oikos in Euripides’ Lost Plays. In: Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Συμποσίου Αρχαίου Δράματος (Θεματική: Η Γυναίκα στο Αρχαίο Δράμα). Delfos, 2011. p. 153-61.

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Published

2024-07-08

Issue

No. 32 (2024)

Section

Dossier Transpositions in Antiquity Studies(s)

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