Ritual Irony Poetry and Sacrifice in Euripides / Helene P. Foley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Foley, Helene P., 1942-

en Book Program, National Endowment for the Humanities Op, Author.

Contributor:

en Book Program, funder.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Euripides--Criticism and interpretation.

Tragedy.

Irony in literature.

Ritual in literature.

Sacrifice in literature.

Mythology, Greek, in literature.

Didactic drama, Greek--History and criticism.

Didactic drama, Greek.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (285 p. )

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cornell University Press 2019

Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1985.

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

Helene P. Foley is Professor of Classical Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University.

Summary:

Ritual Irony is a critical study of four problematic later plays of Euripides: the Iphigenia in Aulis, the Phoenissae, the Heracles, and the Bacchae.Examining Euripides' representation of sacrificial ritual against the background of late fifth-century Athens, Helene P. Foley shows that each of these plays confronts directly the difficulty of making an archaic poetic tradition relevant to a democratic society. She explores the important mediating role played by choral poetry and ritual in the plays, asserting that Euripides' sacrificial metaphors and ritual performances link an anachronistic mythic ideal with a world dominated by "chance" or an incomprehensible divinity. Foley utilizes the ideas and methodology of contemporary literary theory and symbolic anthropology, addressing issues central to the emerging dialogue between the two fields. Her conclusions have important implications for the study of Greek tragedy as a whole and for our understanding of Euripides' tragic irony, his conception of religion, and the role of his choral odes.Assuming no specialized knowledge, Ritual Irony is aimed at all readers of Euripidean tragedy. It will prove particularly valuable to students and scholars of classics, comparative literature, and symbolic anthropology.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

I. Drama and Sacrifice

2 . The Iphigenia in Aulis

3 . The Phoenissae

4. The Heracles

5 . The Bacchae

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: p. 259-273.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781501740633

1501740636

OCLC:

1122602816