Tragic pathos : pity and fear in Greek philosophy and tragedy / Dana LaCourse Munteanu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Munteanu, Dana LaCourse, 1972- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aeschylus. Persae.

Aeschylus.

Aeschylus. Prometheus bound.

Sophocles. Ajax.

Sophocles.

Euripides. Orestes.

Euripides.

Greek drama (Tragedy)--History and criticism.

Greek drama (Tragedy).

Pathos in literature.

Sympathy in literature.

Fear in literature.

Emotions (Philosophy)--History.

Emotions (Philosophy).

Aesthetics, Ancient.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 278 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Scholars have often focused on understanding Aristotle's poetic theory, and particularly the concept of catharsis in the Poetics, as a response to Plato's critique of pity in the Republic. However, this book shows that, while Greek thinkers all acknowledge pity and some form of fear as responses to tragedy, each assumes for the two emotions a different purpose, mode of presentation and, to a degree, understanding. This book reassesses expressions of the emotions within different tragedies and explores emotional responses to and discussions of the tragedies by contemporary philosophers, providing insights into the ethical and social implications of the emotions.

Contents:

Theoretical views about pity and fear as aesthetic emotions: Drama and the emotions : an Indo-European connection? ; Gorgias : a strange trio, the poetic emotions ; Plato : from reality to tragedy and back ; Aristotle : the first 'theorist' of the aesthetic emotions

Pity and fear within tragedies: An introduction ; Aeschylus : Persians ; Prometheus bound ; Sophocles : Ajax ; Euripides : Orestes

Appendix: Catharsis and the emotions in the definition of tragedy in the Poetics.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-17942-X

1-107-22490-X

1-283-37846-9

9786613378460

1-139-18901-8

1-139-18773-2

1-139-19032-6

1-139-18310-9

1-139-18542-X

1-139-02825-1

OCLC:

782876974