Research Catalog

Title

The Gorgon's severed head : studies in Alcestis, Electra, and Phoenissae / by C.A.E. Luschnig.

Author

Luschnig, C. A. E.

Publication

Leiden ; New York : E.J. Brill, 1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xv, 255 pages; 25 cm.

Summary

• The Gorgon's Severed Head looks at three plays of Euripides, one early, one middle and one late in his career. Innovations in genre, in the use of the traditional stories, in the representation of women and of gender issues are present at every period. In all three plays characters are depicted creating themselves and each other. Chapter One on Alcestis looks at the artistry of the two main characters and is especially concerned with finding a role for Admetus, the play's most serious problem.
• The second chapter treats the physical displacement of the myth in Euripides' version of the Electra-Orestes story. A last section approaches the layers of time and space in Phoenissae.

Series Statement

Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum, 0169-8958 ; 153

Uniform Title

Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum ; 153.

Subjects

• Electra (Greek mythological figure) > In literature
• Tragedy
• Seven against Thebes (Greek mythology) in literature
• Alcestis, Queen, consort of Admetus, King of Pherae > In literature
• Euripides > Electra
• Euripides > Criticism and interpretation
• Women and literature > Greece
• Euripides > Alcestis
• Euripides > Phoenician women

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents

Ch. 1. Alcestis: The Aesthetic Identity of Alcestis and the Craftsmanship of Admetus. 1. Introduction: Considerations of Genre and Gender. 2. Family Values. 3. Prologue and Parodos. 4. First Episode and First Stasimon. 5. The Second Episode and the Second Stasimon. 6. Third and Fourth Episodes. 7. After the Funeral. 8. Who is that masked woman? -- Ch. 2. Electra's Pot and the Displacement of the Onstage and Offstage Settings in Euripides' Electra. 1. The Pot and Alienation. 2. Recognition and the Pot. 3. Exteriors: Bringing the inside out. 4. Inside Out -- Ch. 3. Phoenissae: On Ares' Crowns. 1. Introductory Remarks: Why the Phoenissae? 2. Lurid Light: Prologue. 3. Relatives and Other Strangers: Parodos and First Episode. 4. Violence beyond the Towers. 5. Past and Present Violence in the Dark Heart of Thebes. 6. Full Circle: Ares' Crowns. Epilogue: "Without Ideals or violence"

ISBN

9004103821 (alk. paper)

LCCN

95034549

OCLC

• 32856704
• ocm32856704

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries