Achilles in Greek Tragedy
Achilles in Greek Tragedy
£41.00
GBPThis study examines how one of the most popular and glamorous figures of Greek mythology was imagined on the tragic stage of fifth-century Athens. Dr Michelakis argues that dramatists persistently appropriated Achilles to address concerns of their time, from heroism and education to individualism and gender. Whether an aristocrat, a dead warrior or a young man, the tragic Achilles serves as a receptacle for competing definitions of heroism, oscillating between presence and absence, the exceptional and the paradigmatic. Tragedy draws on Achilles to display and pit against one another contrasting views of the mythological self and of its rights and obligations, powers and limitations. The book considers the whole corpus of extant Greek tragedy, with particular attention paid to Aeschylus' Myrmidons and Euripides' Hecuba and Iphigenia at Aulis.
- Examines one of the most important characters of Greek mythology in a previously neglected but significant literary context
- Offers insights into the presentation of heroism and its absence in Greek tragedy
- Deals with important themes in Greek tragedy, such as education, individualism and gender
Reviews & endorsements
'Achilles in Greek Tragedy is an excellent book which provides a very systematic, sensitive and intelligent study of its subject.' David Fitzpatrick, The Open University
'… this book offers several stimulating and thought-provoking … observations about some very interesting Greek plays. It will certainly be useful to any student of attic tragedy.' Journal of Hellenic Studies
'All in all, a well-written and carefully edited book. In my view, its main strength is the combination of an attentive reading of the plays with an analysis of the position Achilles occupies in the mythological tradition, artistic representations, the social and cultural context of classical Athens and contemporary literary and philosophical sources.' L'Antiquité Classique
Product details
August 2007Paperback
9780521038928
236 pages
225 × 139 × 8 mm
0.311kg
5 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1. Introduction: Achilles in the fifth century
- 2. The problematic hero: Aeschylus' Myrmidons
- 3. The dead hero: Euripides' Hecuba
- 4. The hero to be: Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis
- 5. Mapping the heroic absence: Achilles in other plays
- 6. Afterword
- Bibliography
- General index
- Index of passages.
