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Florida State University Libraries )ORULGD6WDWH8QLYHUVLW\/LEUDULHV 2018 Finishing Sophocles: An Attempt to Recreate a Fragmented Satyr Play Charles Benjamin Vancini Follow this and additional works at DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] ! 3! Table&of&Contents& Table!of!Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………………3! Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………...4! Chapter!One:!Field!Work!in!Athens!And!Existing!Fragments…………………………………..9! Chapter!Two:!Creation!of!the!Text!...……………………………………………………………………19! Chapter!Three:!Textual!Comparison……………………………………………………………………33! Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………42! Bibliography.……………………………………………………………………………………………………..46! Appendix!A:!My!Personally!Adapted!Ichneutae)Text…………………………………………….49! Appendix!B:!Full!Account!of!Field!Work!in!Athens……………………………………………….76! & & & & & & & & & & & & ! 4! INTRODUCTION:& For!ancient!Athenian!playwrights!such!as!Aeschylus,!Sophocles,!and! Euripides,!participation!in!the!annual!Athenian!City!Dionysia!represented!the! ultimate!honor.!During!this!grandiose!festival!glorifying!the!god!Dionysus!(patron!of! theatre,!wine,!drunkenness,!and!religious!ecstasy),!participants!competed!against! each!other!by!writing!plays,!which!delegations!of!citizens!staged!and!performed!for! the!Athenian!crowds!over!a!fiveTday!period.!At!the!end!of!the!last!day,!during!a!large! celebration!judges!crowned!winners!for!both!tragic!and!comic!playwrights!with! victory!wreathes.!Those!contending!in!the!comedy!category!would!write!one! comedic!play,!while!those!seeking!to!win!the!tragedy!prize!would!write!four!plays! for!the!competition,!three!traditional!tragic!plays!(such!as!Aeschylus’!Orestia),!and! one!tragiTcomedic!satyr!play.1!! For!the!City!Dionysia,!five!comedic!writers!each!submitted!one!play,!while! three!tragic!writers!each!contributed!four!plays.!Thus,!between!the!tragedians!and! comedians,!every!year!for!several!decades!City!Dionysia!participants!created!and! performed!17!different!plays!for!this!one!(albeit!the!largest)!theatre!festival!alone.2! However,!despite!this!plethora!of!significant!dramatic!literature,!which!playwrights! created!on!an!annual!basis!for!numerous!decades,!very!few!Classical!Greek!plays! exist!today!with!their!full!text!intact.3!Unfortunately,!only!a!few!dozen!tragedies! remain!fully!preserved,!while!only!one!such!satyr!play!survived,!Euripides’!Cyclops.) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!Graham!Ley,!A)Short)Introduction)to)the)Ancient)Greek)Theatre)(Chicago:!University! 2!W.!B.!Worthen,!The)Wadsworth)Anthology)of)Drama.)6th)ed.!(Boston:!Wadsworth,! 2011),!11.! 3!Ronald!W.!Vince,!Ancient)and)Medieval)Theatre:)A)Historiographical)Handbook,) (Westport:!Greenwood!Press,!1984),!39.! ! 5! Consequently,!theatre!scholars!can!only!study!one!complete!example!of!an!entirely! unique!and!separate!genre!of!Classical!Athenian!drama.!Although,!modern!directors! and!performers!still!maintain!several!options!when!seeking!to!produce!classical! Greek!tragedies,!they!only!have!one!example!when!seeking!to!perform!satyr!plays.!! ! While!only!the!one!complete!work!is!still!in!existence,!scholars!have!located! several!partial!scripts!of!other!satyr!plays.4!Among!the!most!complete!of!these! fragmented!scripts!is!Sophocles’!Ichneutae,!in!English!entitled,!The)Trackers.5)As!is! typical!of!every!satyr!play,!Ichneutae!takes!an!established!and!wellTknown!Greek! myth!and!inserts!a!chorus!of!satyrs!(led!by!their!frequently!intoxicated!master! Silenus)!into!the!central!plot.!In!this!instance,!the!sun!god!Apollo!enlists!Silenus!and! his!satyrs!to!help!track!down!the!infantTaged!but!ever!mischievous!Hermes,!who! cleverly!stole!some!of!his!sacred!cattle.!Apollo!promises!Silenus!and!his!cohort! rewards,!including!wealth!and!freedom,!provided!they!can!successfully!track!down! Hermes!and!retrieve!the!cattle.!Just!over!450!lines!of!Sophocles’!original!play! survive!in!a!readable!format!today.6!The!remainder!of!his!work!was!either! destroyed,!or!is!lost!and!remains!unfound.!In!comparison,!Euripides’!Cyclops!totals! around!700!lines,!making!the!remains!of!Ichneutae)approximately!twoTthirds!the! length!of!the!only!satyr!play!surviving!in!its!entirety.!! ! This!loss!provides!a!unique!opportunity!for!students!of!theatre!history!and! playwriting,!such!as!myself.!Existing!knowledge!of!Greek!Mythology!informs!us!how! the!play!likely!ends,!but!the!script!itself!remains!incomplete.!However,!enough!of!the! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4!Ley,!6.! 5!Kirk!Ormand,!A)Companion)to)Sophocles,!(Chichester:!WileyTBlackwell,!2012),!155.! 6!Sophocles!&!Richard!Johnson!Walker,!The)Ichneutae)of)Sophocles)With)Notes)and)a) Translation)(London:!Burns!&!Oates,!1919),!497.! ! 6! original!text!survives!that!one!could!feasibly!propose!a!conclusion!in!the!style!of!the! original!playwright.!With!thorough!research!into!Greek!mythology!and!satyr!plays,! and!a!certain!amount!of!creative!effort,!I!endeavored!to!write!a!plausible!ending!to! Sophocles’!Ichneutae)that!would!render!it!both!faithful!to!the!original!mythological! tradition,!and!stylistically!stageable.!In!doing!so,!ideally!my!play!could!serve!as!an! example!of!what!a!readable!and!performable!satyr!play!may!have!looked!like!during! Sophocles’!own!era.!In!addition!to!providing!a!new,!performable,!and!historically! informed!script,!this!project!would!present!a!working!model!for!future!artistT scholars!interested!in!pursuing!similar!researchTbased!projects.!!! ! In!this!thesis!I!documented!my!process!over!the!course!of!the!project,! provided!insight!about!discoveries!made,!and!offered!experienced! recommendations!for!further!research!on!satyr!plays.!It!begins!with!Chapter!One,! which!contains!a!brief!overview!of!my!time!conducting!fieldwork!in!Athens.!Within! this!section!I!also!discuss!my!research!regarding!the!existing!fragments!of! Sophocles’!original!work!as!they!exist!today.!Under!the!guidance!of!Professor!AlT Saber,!I!conducted!preliminary!research!on!satyr!plays!and!their!unique!role!in!the! greater!Athenian!dramatic!tradition,!during!the!spring!semester!of!2017.!The! purpose!of!such!research!was!to!prepare!myself!with!as!much!knowledge!regarding! the!structure,!content,!and!performance!of!satyr!plays!as!possible,!in!order!to! attempt!to!replicate!a!complete!work.!After!taking!the!majority!of!the!summer!off! from!research,!in!the!early!days!of!August!2017!I!traveled!to!Athens,!Greece!itself!to! conduct!firsthand!field!research!about!ancient!Athenian!society!and!how!culture,! religion,!and!drama!intersected!and!the!role!satyr!plays!occupied!within!that! ! 7! intersection.!In!order!to!accomplish!that!goal,!I!took!extensive!notes!on!every! historical!site!and!museum!I!visited,!and!listed!the!main!findings!and!observations! in!this!thesis,!with!the!more!thorough!fieldwork!documentation!of!my!trip!provided! in!Appendix!B.! ! With!the!completion!of!my!research,!I!moved!into!using!the!knowledge! gained!throughout!the!initial!process!to!begin!drafting!my!working!text!of!Ichneuate,! which!took!place!over!four!months!in!the!fall!of!2017.!In!chapter!Two,!I!detail!my! methods,!and!the!various!insights!and!challenges!I!encountered!during!my!writing! process.!I!focused!a!large!portion!of!the!chapter!on!interactions!with!Sophocles’! original!text!(as!I!understood!it!from!various!translations),!and!how!I!shaped!them! into!my!own!words!while!still!remaining!faithful!to!his!original!line!and!character! intentions.!I!also!discuss!the!choices!I!made!regarding!my!created!end!of!the!play,! and!why!I!decided!to!end!the!play!the!way!I!did.!Chapter!Two!concludes!with! reflections!on!the!numerous!criticisms,!praises,!and!notes!I!received!after!hosting!a! reading!of!a!draft!of!the!complete!text!with!Professor!AlTSaber!and!several!peers.!! ! In!order!to!evaluate!the!merits!of!my!completed!text,!Professor!AlTSaber! suggested!I!create!a!textual!analysis!between!my!completed!work!and!another! similar!endeavor!in!order!to!assess!how!my!work!compares!to!others’!within!the! greater!realm!of!adapted!and!completed!satyr!plays.!So,!Chapter!Three!contains!an! analytical!comparison!between!my!completed!Ichneutae!and!Roger!Lancelyn! Green’s!adaptation!of!the!same!play.!In!this!analysis,!I!work!to!document!the!ways! Green!and!I!approached!our!adaptations!in!similar!manners,!and!when!we! completely!differed.!Afterwards,!I!labored!to!explain!and!defend!my!choices! ! 8! regarding!the!instances!where!we!differed!artistically!and!editorially.!In!the!same! regard,!I!also!sought!to!justify!why!Green!made!the!choices!he!did,!while!keeping!in! mind!our!varying!respective!audiences!and!resources!available!at!the!times!we! wrote!our!individual!texts.!! ! From!there,!I!provide!a!conclusion!to!my!work!which!summarizes!what!I! learned!from!the!project!as!a!whole!and!its!significance!within!the!greater!scope!of! research!conducted!about!satyr!plays.!Additionally,!there!are!also!two!appendices! following!the!thesis’!conclusion.!The!second,!Appendix!B,!as!previously!mentioned,! contains!the!full!account!of!my!time!spent!conducting!firsthand!field!research!in! Athens.!Appendix!A!contains!the!final!draft!of!my!completed!Ichneutae)text,!so!that! the!reader!can!reference!any!aspect!mentioned!over!the!course!of!the!thesis.!! & & & & & & & & & & & & ! 9! CHAPTER&ONE:&FIELD&WORK!IN!ATHENS&AND&EXISTING!FRAGMENTS& ! During!the!spring!semester!of!2017,!while!writing!my!initial!prospectus!draft! for!this!project!I!applied!for!and!won!the!Bess!H.!Ward!Honors!in!the!Major!research! scholarship!at!Florida!State!University.!The!monetary!reward!I!received!allowed!me!
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