Reframing Pathos

Child figures have traditionally been dismissed as simple objects of pathos, but the articulation of pity in tragedy is complex. Different mechanisms for the creation of emotional effects are explored, with attention to Aristotle’s views on ‘fear and pity’ in tragedy. Comparison is drawn with the use of children in legal cases to inspire pity, and the importance of future roles is discussed. The legal frameworks of past action/future obligations are considered as a backdrop to different plays. Supplication contexts are considered, and the role of Eurysakes in Sophocles’ Aias is examined as an example of pathetic effects combined with more threatening hints of the child as a danger. The chapter concludes by showing how potential is both a contributory and a mitigating factor in the tragic deployment of pathetic effects.

Potential

This chapter proposes a new paradigm for understanding children, combining ancient and modern ideas about potential. Aristotle developed a complex idea of action and potential which can be aligned with his other comments about children. Extending this argument, we can see that modern theory linked to quantum mechanics suggests a mechanism by which the silent, passive child figures of tragedy have a paradoxically significant role in drama. Children are framed in temporal and socio-historical settings. Then the theatrical and philosophical issues are considered. The chapter concludes by examining imagery used in tragedy, and suggests that analogies from quantum physics may be useful to explain the peculiar strength of child roles. A parallel is drawn with ancient theatrical ghosts.

Staging Issues

This chapter examines the arguments for the use of child actors on the fifth-century Athenian stage, and concludes that textual evidence indicates that children were indeed used in the original productions. The embodied identity of children is central to their role in drama, as the identities of ‘child actor’ and ‘child character’ are more closely aligned than the identities of adult actor/character. Once the presence of children onstage is established, the chapter proceeds to evaluate questions such as the use of masks and the use of dolls. The use of child speech and song is discussed in relation to socio-historical contexts, concluding that children have more of a prominent role than we would expect.

Contexts

Child figures in tragedy have been largely ignored by scholarship because of an ideological blind spot, the theory of the ‘Universal’ or ‘Natural’ Child which presupposed that all children could be studied in similar ways, regardless of their historical or sociological context. Aristotelian analysis of tragedy has similarly ignored children, and these trends have continued in scholarship despite the growth of childhood studies. Despite their limited action and speech, children are frequently important characters in tragedy. This chapter outlines the range of material to be discussed (plays, playwrights, and characters) and outlines a suggested paradigm shift which enables more effective analysis and appreciation of child roles.

Conclusions and Future Directions

The importance of this work for scholarship on tragedy is explored from different angles. A better understanding of child figures can help develop new ideas about adolescent figures, as well as changing the way we view issues of politics, ethnicity, gender, and age categories. Brief comment is made on how this analysis may influence wider work on children in ancient literature, and work on the engagement between drama and society. Final remarks consider the ethical status of work on children, and how the paradigm shift suggested in this volume may contribute to the ongoing dialogue between the ancient and modern world.

Plays and Playwrights

The arguments of previous chapters are applied to individual plays. Differences between the work of individual playwrights are explored. Euripides’ interest in children is shown to be not a simple question of domestic/pathetic intent, but rather a reflection of his more subtle philosophical ideas, and a development of generic patterns. Emphasis is given to individual plays where the roles of children can now be understood with greater subtlety, and where attention to children can challenge existing scholarly views, such as questions of the political role of tragedy, and the attitudes towards military action. The question of generic status for Euripides’ Alkestis is reconsidered.