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The Evolution of Myths Concerning Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra from Homeric Epic to Seneca

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The Evolution of Myths Concerning Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra from Homeric Epic to Seneca The murderous relationship between mothers and children: the evolution of myths concerning Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra from Homeric epic to Seneca CHRISTINA POUROS Department of Classics Royal Holloway, University of London Submitted for MPhil 1 Declaration of Authorship I hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. CHRISTINA POUROS 18 July 2018 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr Charalambos Dendrinos and the Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) for their financial support. I would also like to thank my managers from the starting and finishing line of this endeavour; Jackie and Jennie. Without their support and understanding this journey could never have begun or concluded. I am sincerely grateful for the support and guidance I have received from the Department of Classics at RHUL throughout this project, specifically Prof Lene Rubinstein, Prof Jonathan Powell, Prof Anne Sheppard, and Dr Liz Gloyn. I would also like to thank my examiners, Prof Fiona McHardy and Dr Rosa Andújar, for their valuable insight and helpful suggestions. Most of all I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Richard Hawley, for his enduring patience, wisdom, and advice. My research would not have been possible without his constant and invaluable guidance and encouragement. I cannot adequately express in words how much I appreciate the time and effort that he has invested in me and this thesis throughout this long and winding road. It has taught me so much, for which I will always be thankful, and can only hope that I have imparted some of it onto these pages. Personal thanks must also go to those who gave me strength on the journey: to MJR who helped me to believe in myself at the start; to Stephen who encouraged me to keep going at the finish; to Morwenna, my running partner over those impossible final hurdles, for her inimitable friendship, support, and good humour; and to Figo who always reminded me to keep fighting! But above all, my love and eternal gratitude go to my mother, Tina. You are everything I could ask for in a parent. I have so much appreciation for your infinite love, kindness and generosity. Your unwavering encouragement and support has helped me through so much. Thank you for always being there for me, no matter what. 3 ABSTRACT My thesis examines Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra as mythological case studies of the murderous relationship between mothers and children, and investigates themes of vengeance and justice in Greek and Roman poetry and drama from the archaic and classical to the Hellenistic and early imperial Roman period. My investigation looks at how these myths evolved from Greek to Roman literature against the background of evolving legal systems and interpretations of justice. This methodology provides an important contribution to our understanding of the reception of Greek myth in Roman literature, which has not received as much attention in existing scholarship compared with the classical dramatic interpretations. I focus on Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra because they are mortal women synonymous with committing intentional homicide. Medea famously escapes unpunished from killing her children, while Clytemnestra is killed by her children in vengeance for killing her husband. These stories have not been studied together to investigate the transition of literary representations of their crimes diachronically from Greek to Roman literature and how these interact with developing societal ideas of justice. Electra is included in order to demonstrate the tensions involved in avenging kin within the family unit, especially when the murderer is a parent, and the contradictions that arise when a woman takes on the role of avenger, as Electra escapes many of the conventional punishments that her brother faces as a matricide. These characters warrant exploration from this gendered perspective because their gender contributes to their otherness in the conventional scheme of vengeance and retribution. Clytemnestra is a victim of the early retaliatory form of justice for the murder of her husband but demonstrates the futility of vengeance because her children suffer for killing her. By contrast, Medea’s escape precludes further violence. These myths demonstrate the consistent concerns regarding the unity of the family, and how the relationship between women and their mothers can be presented as a destructive motive in the cycle of violence within the family. 4 Contents Declaration of Authorship ........................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................. 9 1.1. Context of the study .......................................................................... 9 1.2. Aim and scope .................................................................................... 9 1.3. Literature review ............................................................................. 10 1.4. The significance of this study ......................................................... 20 1.5. Overview .......................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Context ..................................................................................... 26 2.1. Ancient sources ................................................................................ 26 2.2. Intended audience ........................................................................... 26 Chapter 3: Clytemnestra and Electra ...................................................... 30 3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................... 30 3.2. Homeric Epic ................................................................................... 35 3.2.1. Archaic homicide ...................................................................... 35 3.2.2. Odyssey and Iliad ...................................................................... 40 3.3. Epic Cycle ........................................................................................ 50 3.4. Hesiodic Catalogue .......................................................................... 53 3.5. Stesichorus ....................................................................................... 55 3.6. Pindar ............................................................................................... 59 3.7. Aeschylus’ Oresteia: Agamemnon .................................................. 64 3.7.1. Murder of Agamemnon: method ............................................ 64 3.7.2. Motive one: sacrifice of Iphigeneia ......................................... 68 3.7.3. Motive two: Atreus and Thyestes ........................................... 72 3.7.4. Motive three: Cassandra ......................................................... 74 5 3.7.5. Murder of Agamemnon: accomplices .................................... 77 3.7.6. Lion imagery ............................................................................. 81 3.7.7. Justice ........................................................................................ 85 3.7.8. Athenian homicide ................................................................... 88 3.8. Aeschylus’ Oresteia: Choephoroi .................................................... 94 3.8.1. Murder of Agamemnon: method ............................................ 95 3.8.2. Murder of Agamemnon: motives .......................................... 100 3.8.3. Murder of Clytemnestra: method......................................... 102 3.8.4. Murder of Clytemnestra: motives ........................................ 104 3.8.5. Justice: light and dark ........................................................... 107 3.9. Aeschylus’ Oresteia: Eumenides ................................................... 109 3.9.1. Murder of Agamemnon: method .......................................... 110 3.9.2. Murder of Agamemnon: motives .......................................... 110 3.9.3. Murder of Clytemnestra: method......................................... 110 3.9.4. Murder of Clytemnestra: motives ........................................ 111 3.9.5. Justice: Erinyes....................................................................... 113 3.9.6. Justice: trial of Orestes .......................................................... 116 3.9.7. Conclusion ............................................................................... 121 3.10. Sophocles’ Electra........................................................................ 121 3.10.1. Murder of Agamemnon: method and accomplices ........... 123 3.10.2. Murder of Agamemnon: motives ........................................ 127 3.10.3. Murder of Clytemnestra: method....................................... 131 3.10.4. Murder of Clytemnestra: motives ...................................... 134 3.10.5. Murder of Aegisthus: method ............................................. 137 3.10.6. Justice .................................................................................... 138 3.10.7. Electra: sister and mother ................................................... 141 3.11. Euripides’ Electra .......................................................................
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