DOCSLIB.ORG

Eternity Visible: the Tragic Cycle of History in Vergil's

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Eternity Visible: the Tragic Cycle of History in Vergil's ETERNITY VISIBLE: THE TRAGIC CYCLE OF HISTORY IN VERGIL’S AENEID by George Saad Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia December 2017 © Copyright by George Saad, 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................................iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ............................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................................................vi Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 E Pluribus Unum: Vergil’s Varied Arts................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 All the Years at Once: The Synthetic Historical Moment ..................................................................................... 11 1.3 Planting and Founding, Dissolving and Turning: Vergil’s Verbs as Historical Phases ......................................... 13 Chapter 2: Across the Turning Years — A Living Cycle of History ........................................................................... 19 2.1 Tragedy’s Return in German Romantic History .................................................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Living Nature and Historical Cycle in German Romanticism ....................................................................... 20 2.1.2 Nietzsche’s Historical Revaluations of Values .............................................................................................. 23 2.1.3 History’s Movement from Dionysian to Apollonian ..................................................................................... 25 2.1.4 History’s Awakening to the Fate of Zivilisation in Spengler ......................................................................... 29 2.1.5 Spengler’s Antiquity ...................................................................................................................................... 33 2.1.6 Aeneas’ Journey Per Extrema ....................................................................................................................... 35 2.2 Ring Composition and Moral Revaluation ............................................................................................................ 40 2.2.1 Transformation Through Ring Construction .................................................................................................. 40 2.2.2 Epic Epithets as Ring References .................................................................................................................. 44 2.2.3 A Pietas of Impermanence: The Aeneid’s Turning Moral Universe ............................................................. 46 2.2.4 Aeneas and Dido: Circles of Sacred Lies ....................................................................................................... 49 2.2.5 Nietzsche’s Affirmative Eternity ................................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 3: Juno Raises Hell — A Cosmos in Chaos ................................................................................................... 55 3.1 The Morning Star Rises: Venus’ Radical Ascendance .......................................................................................... 56 3.2 Tradition Endures: Juno’s Conservative Resistance .............................................................................................. 62 3.3 Love’s Teary Birth: Venus the Tragic Mother ...................................................................................................... 64 3.3.1 Aeneas in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite ................................................................................................... 66 3.3.2 Venus Appears to Aeneas .............................................................................................................................. 68 3.3.3 Venus Seduces Vulcan ................................................................................................................................... 71 3.4 The Matron as Maelstrom: Juno’s Remembering Rage ......................................................................................... 74 3.4.1 Juno’s Cult and Kultur ................................................................................................................................... 76 3.4.2 Juno as Magna Mater .................................................................................................................................... 79 3.4.3 Iuno Evocata .................................................................................................................................................. 82 ii 3.5 Saturnia Iuno: Saturn’s Daughter and the Return of the Titans ............................................................................. 83 3.5.1 Saturn/Kronos in Hesiod ................................................................................................................................ 85 3.5.2 Freedom and Law Under Saturn .................................................................................................................... 88 3.5.3 Juno Between the Titans and Olympians ....................................................................................................... 91 3.6 From the Blood of Titans: Humanity’s Promethean Revolt .................................................................................. 92 3.6.1 Ascanius’ Ascent to the Stars ........................................................................................................................ 93 3.6.2 Mezentius’ Inhuman Cruelty ......................................................................................................................... 95 3.6.3 Nisus’ Theological Adventure ....................................................................................................................... 97 Chapter 4: The Eyes Turning Over — The Revolutions of Fate ............................................................................... 100 4.1 Carthago Culta: Aeneas’ Tears at Juno’s Temple ............................................................................................... 101 4.2 Troia Soluta: Troy’s Final Disappearance from History ..................................................................................... 107 4.2.1 The Council of the Gods in Book 10 ........................................................................................................... 110 4.2.2 The Death of Palinurus ................................................................................................................................ 114 4.3 Graecia Voluta: Pallas Athena’s Turning Loom ................................................................................................. 118 4.4 Italia Condita: Roman Foundation, Italian Soil .................................................................................................. 129 4.4.1 A Troy of the Spirit ...................................................................................................................................... 129 4.4.2 The Social Wars ........................................................................................................................................... 131 4.4.3 Human Sacrifice Among Friends ................................................................................................................. 133 4.4.4 Turnus and Amata: The Bull and the Beloved ............................................................................................. 138 4.4.5 Juno Betrays Juturna .................................................................................................................................... 147 Chapter 5: Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 151 Appendix A – The American Experience .................................................................................................................. 153 Appendix B – Astrology ............................................................................................................................................ 157 Appendix C – Visuals ................................................................................................................................................ 160 Appendix D – The Historical Paradigm .................................................................................................................... 163 Appendix E – Rings and Cycles ................................................................................................................................ 164 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................. 172 iii ABSTRACT This thesis provides a comprehensive interpretation of Vergil’s Aeneid as an expression of cyclical time. In capturing the historical intensity
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Vergil's Nisus and the Language of Self-Sacrifice In
    Vergil’s Nisus and the Language of Self-Sacrifice in Paradise Lost LEAH WHITTINGTON Princeton University When the Son of God offers to die for mankind in book 3 of Paradise Lost (1667), readers who have been tempted to join the devil’s party for the first two books of the poem confront an unsettling dramatic scene: the assembly in heaven is staged as a mirror image of the demonic council at Pandemonium. The listening host suddenly grows quiet, and a solitary hero figure emerges out of the silence to take on the burden of raising the collective fortune. Placed beside the Son’s promise to atone for man’s sin with his death, Satan’s exploratory mission to earth comes into focus as a fallen reflection of self-sacrifice, a self-aggrandiz- ing perversion of the poem’s heroic ideal now articulated in the Son. This moment of internal self-reference has often been identified as part of Milton’s didactic strategy to confront the reader with proof of his own fallenness,1 but it is less often recognized that the Son’s speech to the angelic host makes use of an allusion that gives it a central place in the story of Milton’s engagement with classical epic.2 When the Son 1. See Stanley Fish, Surprised by Sin (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). Fish famously argues that the heroic portrayal of Satan is part of a larger narrative strategy by which Milton provokes the reader ‘‘with evidence of his corruption’’ and forces him ‘‘to refine his perceptions so that his understanding will be once more proportionable to truth’’ (xiii).
    [Show full text]
  • Furthest Voices in Virgil's Dido I
    FURTHEST VOICES IN VIRGIL’S DIDO I ‘We have to stop somewhere, but we also have to face the fact that any par- ticular stopping-place is therefore our choice, and carries with it ideological implications.’ Don Fowler 1 ‘Magnus est Maro’. I. L. La Cerda 2 Part one Reading Dido – in the Aeneid and beyond – has always been an intensely charged literary and political game. A sensitive, loving woman, Dido offers Aeneas a real alternative to the complex business of setting Rome in motion, and her death shows the enormous price there is to pay in terms of human fulfilment and happiness for the sake of empire building. How more or less sympathetic and straightforward she is seen to be is of course crucial to our perception of Aeneas as epic hero, and to the meaning of the Aeneid as a whole. It is only natural that throughout the 20th century, and into the 21st, critics have over- whelmingly packaged this fascinating character as the archetypical ‘other voice’ to the poem’s teleological (not to say ‘Augustan’) plot. 1 D. P. FOWLER 1997: 25 = 2000: 127-128. 2 LA CERDA: vol. 1, p. 441. Furthest Voices in Virgil’s Dido 61 This comfortable opposition rests to a significant extent on a one- sided reading of Dido’s emotional intricacies. Already ancient poets and readers, from Ovid to the Christians, vigorously edited Virgil’s Dido to produce their own challenge to his epic. Building upon Heinze’s influ- ential treatment, modern critics have favoured a comparable approach: current readings emphasize the image of a loving and forlorn heroine whose short outbursts of rage and fury are evanescent – and justified.
    [Show full text]
  • Senecan Tragedy and Virgil's Aeneid: Repetition and Reversal
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 10-2014 Senecan Tragedy and Virgil's Aeneid: Repetition and Reversal Timothy Hanford Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/427 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] SENECAN TRAGEDY AND VIRGIL’S AENEID: REPETITION AND REVERSAL by TIMOTHY HANFORD A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 ©2014 TIMOTHY HANFORD All Rights Reserved ii This dissertation has been read and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in Classics in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Ronnie Ancona ________________ _______________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Dee L. Clayman ________________ _______________________________ Date Executive Officer James Ker Joel Lidov Craig Williams Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract SENECAN TRAGEDY AND VIRGIL’S AENEID: REPETITION AND REVERSAL by Timothy Hanford Advisor: Professor Ronnie Ancona This dissertation explores the relationship between Senecan tragedy and Virgil’s Aeneid, both on close linguistic as well as larger thematic levels. Senecan tragic characters and choruses often echo the language of Virgil’s epic in provocative ways; these constitute a contrastive reworking of the original Virgilian contents and context, one that has not to date been fully considered by scholars.
    [Show full text]
  • Flagstaff Men's Fashion Unless the New Car You Lust After Is a BMW 7-Series
    THE Page 2 Steady as a rock for No Doubt Alu mjn »<jjh just could not wait Etcetera Writer Jl s rj | any longer to release their most However soon the ska boom hit and abandoned popular experimental album radio, No Doubt, and especially Gwen Stefani, we're not so crazy yet. easily forgotten. Stefani, recognized for her pink hair and 'cause that's Rolling Stone eccentric fashion sense, guided No Doubt to the top of the all our influ­ Magazine says charts with songs like "Don't Speak" and ")ust a GirJ" in ences. I about the album: 1996. Gwen also guided the likes of songwriter Moby and mean, we "The music on Rock rapper Eve to the top of the charts with the help of her dis­ grew up lis­ Steady is simple tinguishable vocals on "South Side" and "Let Me Blow Va tening to and propulsive, Mind.1' No Doubt has released their fifth album, Rock English ska which... forces the Steady, which proves to be a collection of eclectic, danceable and then reg­ songs to improve." tunes. - . gae and all And the songs defi­ Return of Saturn, released in 2(X)0, was an effort in which that stuff. nitely improve, with No Doubt wanted to prove that they were a band of talent­ And then the strong efforts of ed, maturi1 musicians. "A Simple Kind of Life," Gwen's we're from the entire band— attempt to deal with the crisis of turning 30, was, no doubt, Orange both the well a masterpiece written by Stefani.
    [Show full text]
  • 1996 Njcl Certamen Round A1 (Revised)
    1996 NJCL CERTAMEN ROUND A1 (REVISED) 1. Who immortalized the wife of Quintus Caecilius Metellus as Lesbia in his poetry? (GAIUS VALERIUS) CATULLUS What was probably the real name of Lesbia? CLODIA What orator fiercely attacked Clodia in his Pro Caelio? (MARCUS TULLIUS) CICERO 2. According to Hesiod, who was the first born of Cronus and Rhea? HESTIA Who was the second born? DEMETER Who was the fifth born? POSEIDON 3. Name the twin brothers who fought in their mother's womb. PROETUS & ACRISIUS Whom did Proetus marry? ANTIA (ANTEIA) (STHENEBOEA) With what hero did Antia fall in love? BELLEROPHON 4. Give the comparative and superlative forms of mult§ PLâRS, PLâRIM¦ ...of prÇ. PRIOR, PR¦MUS ...of hebes. HEBETIOR, HEBETISSIMUS 5. LegÇ means “I collect.” What does lectitÇ mean? (I) COLLECT OFTEN, EAGERLY Sitis means “thirst.” What does the verb sitiÇ mean? (I) AM THIRSTY / THIRST CantÇ means “I sing.” What does cantillÇ mean? (I) CHIRP, WARBLE, HUM, SING LOW 6. Differentiate in meaning between p~vÇ and paveÇ. P}VÆ -- PEACOCK PAVEÆ -- (I) FEAR, TREMBLE Differentiate in meaning between cavÇ and caveÇ. CAVÆ -- I HOLLOW OUT CAVEÆ -- I TAKE HEED, BEWARE Differentiate in meaning between modo (must pronounce with short “o”) and madeÇ. MODO -- ONLY, MERELY, BUT, JUST, IMMEDIATELY, PROVIDED THAT MADEÆ -- I AM WET, DRUNK Page 1 -- A1 7. What two words combine to form the Latin verb malÇ? MAGIS & VOLÆ What does malÇ mean? PREFER M~la is a contracted form of maxilla. What is a m~la? CHEEK, JAW 8. Which of the emperors of AD 193 executed the assassins of Commodus? DIDIUS JULIANUS How had Julianus gained imperial power? BOUGHT THE THRONE AT AN AUCTION (HELD BY THE PRAETORIANS) Whom had the Praetorians murdered after his reign of 87 days? PERTINAX 9.
    [Show full text]
  • A Level Classical Civilisation Candidate Style Answers
    Qualification Accredited A LEVEL Candidate style answers CLASSICAL CIVILISATION H408 For first assessment in 2019 H408/11: Homer’s Odyssey Version 1 www.ocr.org.uk/alevelclassicalcivilisation A Level Classical Civilisation Candidate style answers Contents Introduction 3 Question 3 4 Question 4 8 Essay question 12 2 © OCR 2019 A Level Classical Civilisation Candidate style answers Introduction OCR has produced this resource to support teachers in interpreting the assessment criteria for the new A Level Classical Civilisation specification and to bridge the gap between new specification’s release and the availability of exemplar candidate work following first examination in summer 2019. The questions in this resource have been taken from the H408/11 World of the Hero specimen question paper, which is available on the OCR website. The answers in this resource have been written by students in Year 12. They are supported by an examiner commentary. Please note that this resource is provided for advice and guidance only and does not in any way constitute an indication of grade boundaries or endorsed answers. Whilst a senior examiner has provided a possible mark/level for each response, when marking these answers in a live series the mark a response would get depends on the whole process of standardisation, which considers the big picture of the year’s scripts. Therefore the marks/levels awarded here should be considered to be only an estimation of what would be awarded. How levels and marks correspond to grade boundaries depends on the Awarding process that happens after all/most of the scripts are marked and depends on a number of factors, including candidate performance across the board.
    [Show full text]
  • Chiasmus in Ancient Greek and Latin Literatures
    Chiasmus in Ancient Greek and Latin Literatures John W. Welch Notwithstanding the fact that most recent scholarly attention has dealt with the occurrence of chiasmus in ancient Near Eastern languages and literatures, a signicant amount of chiasmus is to be found in ancient Greek and Latin literatures as well. Indeed, the word ,,chiasmus” itself stems from the Greek word chiazein, meaning to mark with or in the shape of a cross, and chiasmus has been earnestly studied in Greek and Latin syntax and style far more extensively and many years longer than is has even been acknowledged in the context of Semitic and other ancient writings. That chiasmus has received more attention in the Classical setting than in other ancient literatures is at the same time both ironic and yet completely understandable. The irony lies in the fact that more scholarly acceptance and utilization of chiasmus is found in connection with the appreciation of Western literary traditions than in the study of other ancient literatures, whereas chiasmus is relatively simple and certainly less informative in respect to the Greek and Latin authors than it is in regard to many of the writers from other arenas of the ancient world. One would expect the greater efforts to be made where the rewards promise to be the more attractive. Yet this situation is also easily explained. For one thing, numerous Western scholars have exhaustively studied secular Greek literary texts since the thirteenth century, and Latin, since it was spoken in Rome. The use of literary devices in Hebrew literature, on the other hand, has only been given relatively sparse scholarly treatment in the West for something over two hundred years, and the study of gures of speech in most other ancient languages, dialects and literatures can still be said to be somewhat in a state of infancy.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernard Coutaz Carlos Sandúa Las Músicas Del Agua La ONE Republicana Natalie Dessay Peter Donohoe Lado Ataneli Gaspard De La N
    REVISTA DE MÚSICA Año XXIII - Nº 228 - Marzo 2008 - 6,50 € DOSIER Las músicas del agua ENCUENTROS ROLA Bernard Coutaz ND Carlos Sandúa C O ACTUALIDAD R V E IL Natalie Dessay A L N A Peter Donohoe D ZÓN Lado Ataneli O EM REPORTAJE OCIONES La ONE republicana Año XXIII - Nº 228 Marzo 2008 REFERENCIAS Gaspard de la nuit de Ravel INTERIORPORTADA FILM:SCHERZO 22/2/08 18:37 Página 1 1-16 FILM:SCHERZO 22/2/08 17:36 Página 1 AÑO XXIII - Nº 228 - Marzo 2008 - 6,50 € 2 OPINIÓN DOSIER Las músicas del agua CON NOMBRE José Luis Carles PROPIO y Cristina Palmese 113 6 Natalie Dessay Rafael Banús Irusta ENCUENTROS 8 Peter Donohoe Bernard Coutaz Bruno Serrou Emili Blasco 126 10 Lado Ataneli Carlos Sandúa Pablo J. Vayón Barbara Röder 132 12 AGENDA REPORTAJE La Orquesta Nacional 18 ACTUALIDAD Republicana NACIONAL Enrique Lacomba y Gúzman Urrero Peña 136 46 ACTUALIDAD INTERNACIONAL EDUCACIÓN Pedro Sarmiento 140 60 ENTREVISTA JAZZ Rolando Villazón Pablo Sanz 142 Juan Antonio Llorente LIBROS 144 64 Discos del mes LA GUÍA 146 65 SCHERZO DISCOS CONTRAPUNTO Norman Lebrecht 152 Sumario Colaboran en este número: Javier Alfaya, Julio Andrade Malde, Íñigo Arbiza, Emili Blasco, Alfredo Brotons Muñoz, José Antonio Cantón, José Luis Carles, Jacobo Cortines, Rafael Díaz Gómez, Pierre Élie Mamou, José Luis Fernández, Fernando Fraga, Germán Gan Quesada, Joaquín García, José Antonio García y García, Carmen Dolores García González, Juan García-Rico, José Guerrero Martín, Federico Hernández, Fernando Herrero, Bernd Hoppe, Paul Korenhof, Enrique Lacomba, Antonio Lasierra, Norman
    [Show full text]
  • Myths and Legends: Odysseus and His Odyssey, the Short Version by Caroline H
    Myths and Legends: Odysseus and his odyssey, the short version By Caroline H. Harding and Samuel B. Harding, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.10.17 Word Count 1,415 Level 1030L Escaping from the island of the Cyclopes — one-eyed, ill-tempered giants — the hero Odysseus calls back to the shore, taunting the Cyclops Polyphemus, who heaves a boulder at the ship. Painting by Arnold Böcklin in 1896. SECOND: A drawing of a cyclops, courtesy of CSA Images/B&W Engrave Ink Collection and Getty Images. Greek mythology began thousands of years ago because there was a need to explain natural events, disasters, and events in history. Myths were created about gods and goddesses who had supernatural powers, human feelings and looked human. These ideas were passed down in beliefs and stories. The following stories are about Odysseus, the son of the king of the Greek island of Ithaca and a hero, who was described to be as wise as Zeus, king of the gods. For 10 years, the Greek army battled the Trojans in the walled city of Troy, but could not get over, under or through the walls that protected it. Finally, Odysseus came up with the idea of a large hollow, wooden horse, that would be filled with Greek soldiers. The people of Troy woke one morning and found that no army surrounded the city, so they thought the enemy had returned to their ships and were finally sailing back to Greece. A great horse had been left This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Receptions of Ovid's Tristia Dissertation
    RENAISSANCE RECEPTIONS OF OVID’S TRISTIA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gabriel Fuchs, M.A. Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Frank T. Coulson, Advisor Benjamin Acosta-Hughes Tom Hawkins Copyright by Gabriel Fuchs 2013 ABSTRACT This study examines two facets of the reception of Ovid’s Tristia in the 16th century: its commentary tradition and its adaptation by Latin poets. It lays the groundwork for a more comprehensive study of the Renaissance reception of the Tristia by providing a scholarly platform where there was none before (particularly with regard to the unedited, unpublished commentary tradition), and offers literary case studies of poetic postscripts to Ovid’s Tristia in order to explore the wider impact of Ovid’s exilic imaginary in 16th-century Europe. After a brief introduction, the second chapter introduces the three major commentaries on the Tristia printed in the Renaissance: those of Bartolomaeus Merula (published 1499, Venice), Veit Amerbach (1549, Basel), and Hecules Ciofanus (1581, Antwerp) and analyzes their various contexts, styles, and approaches to the text. The third chapter shows the commentators at work, presenting a more focused look at how these commentators apply their differing methods to the same selection of the Tristia, namely Book 2. These two chapters combine to demonstrate how commentary on the Tristia developed over the course of the 16th century: it begins from an encyclopedic approach, becomes focused on rhetoric, and is later aimed at textual criticism, presenting a trajectory that ii becomes increasingly focused and philological.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar References in Virgil's Aeneid
    Graeco-Latina Brunensia 24 / 2019 / 1 https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2019-1-5 Alma Phoebe: Lunar References in Virgil’s Aeneid Lee M. Fratantuono (Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware) Abstract The moon and lunar phenomena are frequently referenced in Virgil’s Aeneid. Close study of these allusions reveals that the poet employs lunar imagery as a key element in his depiction of the characters of both the Carthaginian Dido and the Volscian Camilla, in particular the de- ČLÁNKY / ARTICLES liberately crafted juxtaposition between the two women. Keywords Virgil; Moon; Luna; Dido; Camilla 61 Lee M. Fratantuono Alma Phoebe: Lunar References in Virgil’s Aeneid The moon serves as astronomical witness to a number of key events in Virgil’s Aeneid.1 The present study will seek to explicate the various references to the moon in the text of the epic (including mentions of the goddess Luna or Phoebe), with a view to illustrating how Virgil employs lunar imagery to significant effect in his poem, in particular in delin- eating the contrast between the opposing pairs Venus/Dido and Diana/Camilla, and as part of his pervasive concern with identifying the relationship between Troy and Rome.2 Near the close of the first book of the epic, the “wandering moon” is cited as the first of the subjects of the song of Dido’s bard Iopas (A. I, 742 hic canit errantem lunam solisque labores).3 The passage echoes similar languages in the song of Silenus from the sixth eclogue (E. VI, 64 tum canit, errantem Permessi ad flumina Gallum),4 where one of the Muses and the divine shepherd Linus rise to give honor to the poet Gallus as he wanders by the Permessus.
    [Show full text]
  • The Myth of Helen of Troy: Reinterpreting the Archetypes of the Myth in Solo and Collaborative Forms of Playwriting
    The Myth of Helen of Troy: Reinterpreting the Archetypes of the Myth in Solo and Collaborative Forms of Playwriting. Volume One of Two Submitted by Ioannis Souris to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Practice In October 2011 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. 1 Abstract In this practice-based thesis I examine how I interpreted the myth of Helen of Troy in solo and collaborative forms of playwriting. For the interpretation of Helen’s myth in solo playwriting, I wrote a script that contextualised in a contemporary world the most significant characters of Helen’s myth which are: Helen, Menelaus, Hermione, Paris, Hecuba, Priam. This first practical research project investigated how characters that were contemporary reconstructions of Menelaus, Hermione, Paris , Hecuba, Priam, Telemachus were affected by Helen as an absent figure, a figure that was not present on stage but was remembered and discussed by characters. For the interpretation of Helen’s myth in collaborative playwriting, I asked three female performers to analyse the character of Helen and then conceptualise and write their own Helen character. The performers’ analyses and rewritings of Helen inspired me to write a script whose story evolved around three Helen characters that were dead and interacted with one another in a space of death.
    [Show full text]