“Our bitterest enemies...” An Examination of Thebes’ Role in Athenian Tragedy

<p>This thesis concerns itself with the depiction of mythical Thebes in extant Greek tragedy, and how this relates to the tragedians’ view of Athens itself. Throughout the Classical Period, Thebes was one of Athens’ biggest enemy poleis, and this complex relationship is often mirrored in the dramas that feature Thebes and Thebans in principal roles. For the purposes of this thesis, I am limiting my scope to dramas that deal with the “Seven Against Thebes” mythic cycle and, to pare the topic down even further, I am only examining those tragedies that feature either Eteocles, Polynices, or both. Chapter one deals with Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, where I argue that Thebes is not only presented as a positive force, but actually comes to be identified as a stand-in for Athens. The Thebes of Aeschylus’ play shares many common factors with Athens of the early fifth-century B.C. Chapter two is about Euripides’ Phoenician Women. The main argument here is that Euripides uses his Theban characters as mouthpieces for his own ideas on political rhetoric, particularly political issues that are of importance to contemporary Athens. Additionally, Phoenician Women’s fragmented, episodic plot and its large cast of characters contribute to an image of Thebes as a disorganised, chaotic polis, and one that is the antithesis of Athens. At the same time, its emphasis on the feminine complicates this picture somewhat; although this contributes to the “anti-Athens” image, whether or not this is a positive thing is unclear. My third and final chapter concerns Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus and the lack of consistency in its depiction of Theban characters. Polynices and Creon are characterised negatively, but Oedipus and especially Antigone and Ismene appear in a much more positive light. Furthermore, Theseus appears in the OC as a representative of Athens so, fundamentally, the OC is about the relationship between the two poleis, and an exhortation for Thebes to strive to be more like Athens. My conclusion is that tragedy’s treatment of Thebes is malleable and that there is not necessarily one standard way of depicting mythical Theban characters. At the same time, I also conclude that, no matter how Thebes is represented, there is always an underlying tension regarding how Thebes relates to Athens; the two cities are in a constant state of comparison and contrast.</p>

“Our bitterest enemies...” An Examination of Thebes’ Role in Athenian Tragedy

<p>This thesis concerns itself with the depiction of mythical Thebes in extant Greek tragedy, and how this relates to the tragedians’ view of Athens itself. Throughout the Classical Period, Thebes was one of Athens’ biggest enemy poleis, and this complex relationship is often mirrored in the dramas that feature Thebes and Thebans in principal roles. For the purposes of this thesis, I am limiting my scope to dramas that deal with the “Seven Against Thebes” mythic cycle and, to pare the topic down even further, I am only examining those tragedies that feature either Eteocles, Polynices, or both. Chapter one deals with Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, where I argue that Thebes is not only presented as a positive force, but actually comes to be identified as a stand-in for Athens. The Thebes of Aeschylus’ play shares many common factors with Athens of the early fifth-century B.C. Chapter two is about Euripides’ Phoenician Women. The main argument here is that Euripides uses his Theban characters as mouthpieces for his own ideas on political rhetoric, particularly political issues that are of importance to contemporary Athens. Additionally, Phoenician Women’s fragmented, episodic plot and its large cast of characters contribute to an image of Thebes as a disorganised, chaotic polis, and one that is the antithesis of Athens. At the same time, its emphasis on the feminine complicates this picture somewhat; although this contributes to the “anti-Athens” image, whether or not this is a positive thing is unclear. My third and final chapter concerns Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus and the lack of consistency in its depiction of Theban characters. Polynices and Creon are characterised negatively, but Oedipus and especially Antigone and Ismene appear in a much more positive light. Furthermore, Theseus appears in the OC as a representative of Athens so, fundamentally, the OC is about the relationship between the two poleis, and an exhortation for Thebes to strive to be more like Athens. My conclusion is that tragedy’s treatment of Thebes is malleable and that there is not necessarily one standard way of depicting mythical Theban characters. At the same time, I also conclude that, no matter how Thebes is represented, there is always an underlying tension regarding how Thebes relates to Athens; the two cities are in a constant state of comparison and contrast.</p>

Sofocle: Magia, Medicina, Religione

In Sophocles’ tragedies the interweaving of medicine, religion and magic produces a lot of meanings and concepts that show the complexity of the Greek thought of the Fifth century. In his tragedies, Sophocles shows his interest both in the magical and religious medicine and in the new Hippocratic medical science. The aim of this paper is to analyze the conceptual and lexical intertwining that reflects this interest, focusing on the character of Oedipus. In fact, Oedipus is the hero who best embodies this duplicity. At the beginning of the drama he assumes a rational investigation method through which he tries to discover Laius’ murderer and then to heal Thebes from the plague that afflicts it. However, his responsibility emerges during the tragedy; Oedipus’ fault has divine origin and makes him the first cause of the evil of the city. In the Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus’ body is released from the contamination that had made him the origin of the plague and the hero’s body turns into a sort of magic amulet to protect the polis that will guard it when he will be dead.

fall and rise of King Oedipus

This essay is placed within a continuing debate on the appropriateness of a Christian deployment of tragedy. According David Bentley Hart, tragedy legitimates a sacrificial and scapegoating logic that is in contradiction with the Christian gospel. It promotes exclusion and therefore is imaginatively and metaphysically conservative in its import. In the ensuing argument, I hope to show through one example how even Greek tragedy can resist some of these claims. Drawing on the seminal work of Jean-Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet, I argue that Sophocles’ Oedipus cycle, firstly, demonstrates the inability of nomos to grasp the exception of Oedipus, and that this might constitute a critique rather than a simple legitimation of the civic order. Secondly, the narrative arc of Oedipus Tyrannus and Oedipus at Colonus point towards incorporation rather than final exclusion, and that his apotheosis could be read as resisting deleterious tropes of a final holocaust of the tragic figure. In the final section, drawing on Rowan Williams, I discuss the problems associated with literary Christologies in general, and whether it could be theologically feasible to talk about the Theban cycle as exhibiting a ‘proto-Christology’.

Sophocles, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus

Tragedy presents motion visually, but this is only part of one level of motion. Actual but unseen motion and metaphorical motion interact with stage motion in the rich mythology and language of tragedies. Tragic plots involve motion beyond the stage and are part of larger myths of motion; lyric and speech in Antigone and OT exhibit dense complexes of poetry, events, action. The tragic language of motion is elaborate; each of Sophocles’ plays has its specialities. Tragedy likes speed; but the Philoctetes and OC exploit laborious movement, fraught with long suffering. They survey through motion Philoctetes’ solitary disability and Oedipus’ old age with his daughter. The passages looked at include Philoctetes telling of his endeavours to get food, an attack on stage in which he falls down, the moral and dramatic intricacies of attempted joint motion with Neoptolemus, Antigone being carried off, the winds assailing old age, the failed journey of Oedipus’ son. They manifest: the difficult specifics of movement, graphic stage movement, interweaving of drama and metaphor, groups and individuals, near-authorial lyric, obstinate immorality. Motion in the plays ranges from imagined entry into heaven or the underworld to pain within the body and awkward sitting down. The chamber Philoctetes offers a vast breadth of motion; the fixed OC shows constant fluctuation.

Motion in Classical Literature

Ancient literature is full of people, gods, and animals in impressive motion. But while the importance of space has been realized recently, motion has had little attention, for all its prominence in literature, and its interest to ancient philosophy. Motion is bound up with decisions, emotions, character; its specific features are expressive. The book starts with motion in visual art: this leads to the characteristics of literary depiction. Literary works discussed are: Homer’s Iliad; Ovid’s Metamorphoses; Tacitus’ Annals; Sophocles’ Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus; Parmenides’ On Nature; Seneca’s Natural Questions. The two narrative poems here diverge rewardingly, as do philosophical poetry and prose; in the prose narrative, as in the philosophical poem, the absence of motion, and metaphorical motion, are important; the dramas scrutinize motion verbally and visually. Each discussion pursues the general roles of motion in a work, with detail on its language of motion; then passages are analysed closely, to show how much emerges when this aspect is scrutinized. A conclusion brings works and passages together. It considers the differences made by genre and by the time of writing. Among aspects of motion which emerge as important are speed, scale, shape of movement, motion and fixity, movement of one person and a group, motion willed and imposed, motion in images and unrealized possibilities. A companion website makes it easier to see passages and analyses together; it offers videos of readings to convey the vitality and subtlety with which motion is portrayed.