This study of Euripides' Electra approaches the text through the lens of modern linguistics, marrying it with traditional literary criticism in order to provide new and informative means of analysing and interpreting what is considered to be one of the playwright's most controversial works. It is the first systematic attempt to apply a variety of modern linguistic theories, including conversation analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics (on gender and politeness), paroemiology, and discourse studies, to a single Greek tragedy. The volume focuses specifically on issues of characterization, demonstrating how Euripides shaped his figures through their use of language, while also using the same methodology to tackle some of the play's major textual issues. An introductory chapter treats each of the linguistic approaches used throughout the book, and discusses some of the general issues surrounding the play's interpretation. This is followed by chapters on the figures of the Peasant, Electra herself, and Orestes, in each case showing how their characterization is determined by their speaking style and their 'linguistic behaviour'. Three further chapters focus on textual criticism in stichomythia, on the messenger speech, and on the agon. By using modern linguistic methodologies to argue for a balanced interpretation of the Electra's main characters, the volume both challenges dominant scholarly opinion and enhances the literary interpretation of this well-studied play. Taking full account of recent and older work in both linguistics and classics, it will be of use to readers and researchers in both fields, and includes translations of all Greek cited and a glossary of linguistic terminology to make the text accessible to both.

This study of Euripides' Electra marries linguistics and literary criticism to provide novel insights into the interpretation of the play. Focusing on characterization, it demonstrates how the figures are shaped through their use of language, using new means of analysis to argue for a balanced interpretation and challenge prevailing views.

Euripides’ Electra opened up for its audience an opportunity to become self-aware as to the appeal of tragic Kunstsprache: it both reflected and sustained traditional, aristocratically-inflected assumptions about the continuity of appearance and substance, even in a radical democracy. A complex analogy between social and aesthetic valuation is played out and brought to light. The characterization of Orestes early in the play demonstrates how social appearances made clear the identity of well-born, and how they were still assumed to indicate superior virtue and agency. On the aesthetic side of the analogy, one of the functions of tragic diction, as an essential indication of heroic character and agency, comes into view in a dramatic and thematic sequence that begins with Achilles ode and ends with the planning of the murders. Serious doubts are created as to whether Orestes will realize the assumed potential inherent in his heroic genealogy and, at the same time, as to whether the components of his character as an aesthetic construct are congruent with such qualities and agency. Both sides of this complex analogy are thus problematized, and, at a metapoetic level, its nature and bases are exposed for reflection.

Responding to Plato's challenge to defend the political thought of poetic sources, Marlene K. Sokolon explores Euripides's understanding of justice in nine of his surviving tragedies. Drawing on Greek mythological stories, Euripides examines several competing ideas of justice, from the ancient ethic of helping friends and harming enemies to justice as merit and relativist views of might makes right. Reflecting Dionysus, the paradoxical god of Greek theater, Euripides reveals the human experience of understanding justice to be limited, multifaceted, and contradictory. His approach underscores the value of understanding justice not only as a rational idea or theory, but also as an integral part of the continuous and unfinished dialogue of political community. As the first book devoted to Euripidean justice, Seeing with Free Eyes adds to the growing interest in how citizens in democracies use storytelling genres to think about important political questions, such as "What is justice?"

This peer-reviewed collection of essays provides an account of several current foci of research in Classics. It gathers fifteen contributions covering subjects such as Greek and Latin papyrology and epigraphy. It also includes approaches to various key literary texts, from Homer to post-classical Humanists, in addition to chapters on navigation, coinage, and sculpture. This book represents a useful research tool for a wide range of scholars in Greek, Latin and Ancient History, as well as an up-to-date source for any classicist.

This is the fourth volume in the series Studies in Ancient Greek Narrative. The book deals with the narratological concepts of character and characterization and explores the textual devices used for purposes of characterization by ancient Greek authors from Homer to Heliodorus.

A COMPANION TO AESCHYLUS A COMPANION TO AESCHYLUS In A Companion to Aeschylus, a team of eminent Aeschyleans and brilliant younger scholars delivers an insightful and original multi-authored examination—the first comprehensive one in English—of the works of the earliest surviving Greek tragedian. This book explores Aeschylean drama, and its theatrical, historical, philosophical, religious, and socio-political contexts, as well as the receptions and influence of Aeschylus from antiquity to the present day. This companion offers readers thorough examinations of Aeschylus as a product of his time, including his place in the early years of the Athenian democracy and his immediate and ongoing impact on tragedy. It also provides comprehensive explorations of all the surviving plays, including Prometheus Bound, which many scholars have concluded is not by Aeschylus. A Companion to Aeschylus is an ideal resource for students encountering the work of Aeschylus for the first time as well as more advanced scholars seeking incisive treatment of his individual works, their cultural context and their enduring significance. Written in an accessible format, with the Greek translated into English and technical terminology avoided as much as possible, the book belongs in the library of anyone looking for a fresh and authoritative account of works of continuing interest and importance to readers and theatre-goers alike.