Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The Crete and Cretans of Euripides: Perceptions and Representations Thesis How to cite: Sinha, Bijon Kumar (2017). The Crete and Cretans of Euripides: Perceptions and Representations. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2016 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000bf10 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk TITLE PAGE Bijon Kumar SINHA Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), Master of Arts in Classical Studies, PGCE The Crete and Cretans of Euripides: Perceptions and Representations Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classical Studies (Open University) September, 2016 1 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 INTRODUCTORY NOTE AND ABBREVIATIONS 6 ABSTRACT 7 1.1 THE CRETE OF EURIPIDES: An Overview 10 1.2 The Research Questions 11 1.3 Methodology 11 1.4 Commentaries and Translations 13 1.5 Euripides and the dramatic treatment of Crete as an island 14 1.6 The cycle of Cretan myths 15 1.7 Treatment of mythological characters and themes 23 1.8 Crete’s ‘Darker Aspects’ 27 1.9 Formulations of identity 28 1.10 Insularity 31 1.11 Interconnectivity 35 1.12 Overview of chapters 40 Appendix 1: The cycle of Cretan myths – a summary 42 Appendix 2: A chronology of Euripides’ selected ‘Cretan plays’ 49 2 2.1 CRETAN ELEMENTS IN EURIPIDES’ HIPPOLYTUS: An Introduction 50 2.2 Allusions to Crete in Troezen 53 2.3 Explicit and Implicit references to Crete in Hippolytus 93 2.4 Aspects of Crete in Troezen 109 2.5 Overall Observations 116 3.1 CRETANISM IN EURIPIDES’ THE CRETANS: An Introduction 121 3.2 Zeus and Europa in The Cretans 132 3.3 Minos as ruler of Crete 142 3.4 Temple descriptions in the parados 144 3.5 The Mount Ida of The Cretans 156 3.6 Religious rites and the representation of a ‘Cretan religion’ 160 3.7 Salient features of Cretanism: The Cretans 167 4.1 BOVINE IMAGERY AND CRETANISM: An Introduction 171 4.2 Bovine imagery in classical drama 173 4.3 Zeus’ bull 174 4.4 Poseidon’s bull 183 4.5 Pasiphae’s cow 192 4.6 The Minotaur 204 4.7 Salient features of Cretanism: bovine imagery 226 3 5.1 CRETANISM AND INSULARITY: An Introduction 235 5.2 Insularity – the concept 237 5.3 Crete as ‘an island’ 240 5.4 Features of the Cretan Landscape 251 5.5 Crete and its Creatures 256 5.6 Unity Through Plurality 263 5.7 Salient Features of Insularity 285 6.1 A MULTI-FACETED CRETE: An Introduction 289 6.2 Insularity and the background from historiography 300 6.3 Insularity: ‘the island’ and ‘the mainland’ 305 6.4 The sea’s role in insularity 314 6.5 The sea as marginal space 320 6.6 The agency of the sea in material and metaphorical terms 323 6.7 A Multi-faceted Crete 324 BIBLIOGRAPHY 330 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks must first go to my Examiners, Professor Helen King and Dr. Jonathan Hesk for all their invaluable input, especially in helping me revise my conceptualisations and clarifying my conclusions. I am also inestimably grateful for the support, advice and direction given to me over the years by Professor Lorna Hardwick, Dr. James Robson and Dr. Elton Barker. They have made my journey through Greek tragedy both possible and momentous. Their unending patience and belief in my ability to see this project to a fruitful conclusion have themselves been all-inspiring. I also owe my thanks to the Classical Department at the Open University for their help and support throughout the duration. My thanks must also go to Sue Willetts, Christopher Ashill and the team at the Hellenic Library in London for their generous resource and spirit. My several visits to Athens, Knossos and Epidauros, made possible by the Open University, have provided great insights and opportunities for my involvement with Greek drama. I am also indebted to Dr. James Robson for his diligent and helpful proof reading efforts. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Sue Blundell, my M.A. supervisor and friend; also, my sisters, Kalpana and Lalita, for providing me much-needed inspiration over the years, Sobi, for her revelatory insights and her love, Jill and Phil for their continued interest in my subject, and last but not least, my partner and friend, Richard Northridge, for his unflinching support and understanding throughout the duration of this project. 5 INTRODUCTORY NOTE and ABBREVIATIONS Editions of ancient texts and commentaries are referenced under the editors’ names. Quotations and citations from the Greek are taken from Loeb or Aris and Philips editions unless otherwise noted. Translations from the Greek are my own unless otherwise indicated. Greek words used in the main text have been transliterated throughout. Abbreviations LSJ Liddel, Scott and Jones (2007) TLG Thesaurus linguae Graecae All other abbreviations follow the LSJ lexicon (1968) 6 Bijon Sinha The Crete and Cretans of Euripides: Perceptions and Representations Abstract This thesis focuses on Euripides’ dramatic representations of Crete, famous from myth, geography, art, literature and philosophy. This thesis will attempt to address the following key questions: how is Crete represented in the extant Euripidean plays and fragments? How consistent are such representations between themselves? How are the Cretan mythological characters deployed? How are previous representations of Crete re-stated or adapted? What questions of association and identity appear to be raised? What kinds of multiple identities and their potential for interpretation are to be found in the plays? How do these relate to paradigms found in other sources? And finally, do Euripides’ representations of Crete as an island as constructed in these works contribute to a wider understanding of the relationship between the islands and Athens? Various themes emerge from detailed textual analyses which stress Crete’s distinct, isolated nature, including the portrayals of Minos, Cretan women, the Minotaur, Cretan gods and spirits and the location of Crete itself. Many of these themes are also deployed paradoxically to stress, instead, Crete’s links with the mainland. Overall, common themes emerge that can be usefully considered in terms of two 7 contemporary, theoretical models - insularity and interconnectivity-, which offer insights into the complex relationships of difference and similarity between islands and the mainland. In terms of insularity, Crete is viewed as an ‘island’, distant and distinct from Athens. The model of interconnectivity, conversely, stresses links between Crete and other regions as suggested by the many travels undertaken by protagonists in these works. Insularity and interconnectivity, then, can be used to consider Euripides’ Crete as part of a continuum between complete independence from and complete integration with the outside world. By considering models of insularity and interconnectivity specifically in relation to drama, this thesis departs in new directions from previous studies. Chapter 1 outlines the research questions raised in the study of Cretanism and explains the structure of the thesis. Chapter 2 entails textual analyses of the references to Crete in Hippolytus. Chapter 3 involves textual analyses of the fragmentary The Cretans, illustrating how Cretans on Crete are represented. Chapter 4 considers emerging themes used to emphasize Cretanism, which, in turn, reinforce Crete’s distinctive, insular nature. Chapter 5 considers the evidence in terms of insularity and interconnectivity. These models highlight difference and separation, as well as similarity and interconnectivity between Crete, Athens and the rest of the Greek world. Chapter 6 reflects on the findings of previous chapters, arguing that 8 certain models of insularity and interconnectivity can be usefully drawn out of Euripides’ representations of Crete to offer insights into the perceptions of islands in drama. 9 Chapter 1 The Crete of Euripides: An Overview 1.1 Introduction Islands comprise a significant proportion of space in the physical and perceptual composition of the ancient Greek world,1 but their inclusion as settings in tragedy at first appears much less common than might be expected. Those that occur appear to be limited to a few extant works that include Sophocles’ Philoctetes set on Lemnos, plays by both Aeschylus and Euripides believed to have been entitled (or about) Women of Aetna and set in Sicily, and Euripides’ Scyrians set on Scyros. However, a corpus of works based on Crete by dramatists of the fifth and fourth centuries also survives. In fact, the theme of Crete and its mythological figures appears, by all accounts, to have been rather popular in drama.2 Although references to these works can be found in classical literature, most of the works themselves are lost. In the case of Euripides, all that survive are one complete play, and several fragments. 3 This last grouping of works by Euripides bearing references to Crete and its mythical cycles forms the basis of this thesis. 1 As an illustration, the numerous islands (nearly 2,000) comprise the fourth most important geographical region of modern Greece covering a total area of c. 25,000 sq. km. In the ancient world, ‘an island’ was perceived as comprising the piece of land, the surrounding seas, and their respective histories (see Constantakopoulou 2007: 1). 2 Other than the works by Euripides, there are also references to plays including Aeschylus’ Cressae, Sophocles’ Phaedra, Polyidus, Daedalus, Theseus, and Camici (or Minos); also a Daedalus each by Aristophanes, Plato, Eubulus (or Philippus); a Theseus each by Aristonymus, Achaeus, Theopompus, Anaxandrides; The Cretans by Diphilus Nicochares; a Minos each by Apollophanes and Antiphanes, and a Pasiphae each by Alexis and Alcaeus (see Chapter 3 for a further discussion).