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DIOTIMA PAPADI TRAGEDY AND THEATRICALITY IN PLUTARCH DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND LATIN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of London LONDON 2007 V u t f V UMI Number: U592312 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U592312 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 For my parents Abstract The present thesis focuses on the role of tragedy and on the multiple versions of theatricality in selected Essays and Lives of Plutarch. Most interestingly the ‘tragic’ does not emerge exclusively from the many quotations from the tragedians which are dispersed in the whole of the Plutarchan corpus, especially in his Essays; it also emerges from distinctive suggestions of tragedy, tragic imagery, tragic parallels and texturing. Plutarch acknowledges the importance of tragedy in literary education, but is still very ready to criticise what the poets say. Even so, he does not treat tragedy negatively in itself, but figures it as a possibly bad and corrupting thing when it is wrongly transferred to real-life contexts. In this way he requires from his readers thoughtfulness and reflection on that relation between tragedy and real life, while he also makes them reflect on whether there is a distinctive ‘tragic stance of life’, and if so whether a philosophical viewpoint would cope with real life more constructively. In the Lives there may be less explicit thematic hints of tragedy, yet there is a strong theatricality and dramatisation, including self-dramatisation, in the description of characters, such as Pompey and Caesar, particularly at crucial points of their career and life. By developing the idea that the ‘tragic’ aspects may relate to the ways in which characters are morally or philosophically deficient or cause them to falter - but if so, in a way that is itself familiar from tragedy - they also relate extremely closely to the characteristics which make the people great. The tragic mindset (this idea will be illustrated from Plutarch’s direct references to tragedy as well as his allusions to the theatrical world) offers a fresh angle in reading Plutarch’s work and makes the reader engage more in thinking how both ‘tragic’ and theatre can be used as a tool to explore a hero’s distinctiveness in addressing the issues of his world. Contents Abstract................................................................................................. iii Contents .................................................................................................iv Preface....................................................................................................v Introduction ...............................................................................................1 1. The moral and educational use of poetry .............................................. 19 2. Theatrical imagery in Plutarch’s Essays................................................44 3. The role of tragedy in On exile..............................................................68 4. Tragedy and Theatre in the Table Talk .................................................93 5. Theatrical aspects of Pompey................................................................ 120 6. Theatrical imagery in Caesar................................................................ 158 Conclusion .................................................................................................193 Bibliography ..............................................................................................196 iv Preface To the casual reader, a doctoral dissertation may appear to be solitary work. However, any undertaking of this nature requires a network of support and incurs many debts. And it is, as everyone knows, a pleasant duty to acknowledge much help and friendly advice, although not all the people to whom I am grateful can be mentioned here. To begin with, I must thank the Onassis Foundation and the A. G. Leventis Foundation for funds which allowed me the luxury of research. I am grateful to both for supporting financially this project. I owe a special debt to my supervisors, Prof. Chris Pelling and Prof. Chris Carey, who both directed my work and continuously offered their wise advice. Prof. Pelling’s passion for, and knowledge of, Plutarch has always been an inspiration to me. His constant encouragement and critical remarks, both challenging and insightful, constitute an intellectual debt which is impossible to quantify. Prof. Carey showed me new ways of thinking about or interpreting texts which will always inform my research. I never ceased to be amazed at the large amount of work which they both put into reading, and commenting on, various drafts. Their acute and patient criticisms saved me from intellectual vagueness and incomplete references; the greatest number of improvements, large and small, came at the price of their long effort. I am also grateful to Mr. Alan Griffiths and Prof. Ewen Bowie who supported the early stages of my work by generously commenting and correcting various parts of the early drafts. I have often imposed myself especially heavily on the patience of Dr. Stephen Instone, who has readily responded to assist me greatly in matters of language and structure. I would also like to acknowledge here the kind support and help I received from Dr. Federico Muccioli for bibliographic work and reference-checking, and for assistance in matters not confined to his speciality. I am also thankful to Rhiannon Ash for her help on several occasions. For any errors that may remain, I alone am responsible. v I would also like to thank friends in London and elsewhere for their interest and friendship. Above all, my thanks are as ever due for the support shown to me by my parents and sister, Stella. 1 am immensely grateful to my parents for the guidance, strength and love I received from them. I dedicate this book to them. London 30 June 2007 vi Introduction ’AXe^avfipos B’ o OepcwW rvpaw og (...), Seojpuevo^ rpa/yqidov epvnaBicrrepov vfr 'fftovrfc ftiereSr) Ttpb$ t ov oJktov. avawfb^traq ovv ck tov Oea/rpou 9drrov v} fiafrqv a/rrpei, beivov ehau Xeycav, ei roovvrovt; a/noo’<f)a.TTa)v ttoXitou; otyhfoerau roTg E ko/3^ kou YIoKvBjevt^ TraJtemv hn$au<pv(ov. ovto$ yuev ovv puKpov kou (titcrjv knpbJcfhTO tov rpa/yqpBov, oti t vp/ ipu%r)v outou KaBanep (ribqpav epuzkaJ-ev. Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae (...), as he watched a tragic actor, felt himself much more moved to pity through enjoyment of the acting. He jumped up, therefore, and left the theatre at a rapid pace, exclaiming that it would be a dreadful thing, if, when he was slaughtering so many citizens, he should be seen to weep over the sufferings of Hecuba and Polyxena. And he came near visiting punishment upon the actor because the man had softened his heart, as iron in the fire. (On the fortune or virtue o f Alexander, 334A-B)1 This arresting passage - so Aristotelian in many ways - raises a number of interesting points of central importance to this dissertation. First of all it shows the enduring panhellenic appeal of Athenian tragedy. Though the incident dates to the early fourth