DOCTORAL THESIS Animal metaphors and the depiction of female avengers in Attic tragedy Abbattista , Alessandra Award date: 2018 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 ANIMAL METAPHORS AND THE DEPICTION OF FEMALE AVENGERS IN ATTIC TRAGEDY by Alessandra Abbattista BA, MA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Humanities University of Roehampton 2017 2 ABSTRACT In the attempt to enrich classical literary criticism with modern theoretical perspectives, this thesis formulates an interdisciplinary methodological approach to the study of animal metaphors in the tragic depiction of female avengers. Philological and linguistic commentaries on the tragic passages where animals metaphorically occur are not sufficient to determine the effect that Attic dramatists would have provoked in the fifth-century Athenian audience. The thesis identifies the dramatic techniques that Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides deploy to depict vengeful heroines in animal terms, by combining gender studies of the classical world, classical studies of animals and posthumanism. It rejects the anthropocentric and anthropomorphic views of previous classical scholars who have interpreted the animal-woman metaphor in revenge plots as a tragic expression of non-humanity. It argues instead that animal imagery was considered particularly effective to express the human contradictions of female vengeance in the theatre of Dionysus. The thesis investigates the metaphorical employment of the nightingale, the lioness and the snake in the tragic characterisation of women who claim compensation for the injuries suffered within and against their household. Chapter 1 is focused on the image of the nightingale in comparison with tragic heroines, who perform ritual lamentation to incite vengeance. Chapter 2 explores the lioness metaphor in the representation of tragic heroines, who through strength and protectiveness commit vengeance. Chapter 3 examines the metaphorical use of the snake in association with tragic heroines, who plan and inflict vengeance by deceit. Through the reconstruction of the metaphorical 3 metamorphoses enacted by vengeful women into nightingales, lionesses and snakes, the thesis demonstrates that Attic dramatists would have provoked a tragic effect of pathos. Employed as a Dionysiac tool, animal imagery reveals the tragic humanity of avenging heroines whose voice, agency and deception cause nothing but suffering to their family, and inevitably to themselves. 4 CONTENTS Acknowledgements 8 Editions, Translations and Abbreviations 10 INTRODUCTION 0. 1. A Dionysiac reading of the animal-woman metaphor 15 0. 1. 1. Revenge 22 0. 1. 2. Wildness 26 0. 1. 3. Metamorphosis 28 0. 2. An interdisciplinary methodology 31 0. 2. 1. Gendered perspectives 32 0. 2. 2. Animal studies 40 0. 2. 3. Posthumanism 47 0. 3. The metaphorical metamorphoses of female avengers 54 CHAPTER 1: THE NIGHTINGALE 1. 1. The voice of the tragic nightingale 59 1. 1. 1. The gendered nature of the nightingale’s song 62 1. 1. 2. The myth of Procne between lament and revenge 66 1. 1. 3. From ritual lamentations to vengeful laments 71 1. 2. The metaphorical metamorphoses of mourning avengers 78 1. 2. 1. Liminal habitat 90 5 1. 2. 2. Musical skills 106 1. 2. 3. Prophetic role 126 1. 3. Conclusion 134 CHAPTER 2: THE LIONESS 2. 1. The agency of the tragic lioness 139 2. 1. 1. The gendered nature of the lioness’s empowerment 142 2. 1. 2. The Homeric lion between strength and protectiveness 145 2. 1. 3. From the battlefield to the household 147 2. 2. The metaphorical metamorphoses of avenging mothers 152 2. 2. 1. Dangerous habitat 159 2. 2. 2. Hunting skills 168 2. 2. 3. Maternal role 187 2. 3. Conclusion 212 CHAPTER 3: THE SNAKE 3. 1. The deception of the tragic snake 221 3. 1. 1. The gendered nature of the snake’s deceit 225 3. 1. 2. Dragon-slaying myths 231 3. 1. 3. From monstrosity to autochthony 234 3. 2. The metaphorical metamorphoses of deceitful avengers 237 3. 2. 1. Secret habitat 244 3. 2. 2. Marauding skills 270 3. 2. 3. Kourotrophic role 298 3. 3. Conclusion 329 6 CONCLUSION 341 Indices 347 Bibliography 350 7 Acknowledgements The idea of my research project develops from the semiotic study of animal imagery in Attic tragedy, which was the object of investigation of my Master’s dissertation. During my studies at the University of Bologna, I would have never imagined to be given the possibility to complete a PhD programme in London. Thanks to the University of Roehampton, which offered me a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Studentship in 2013, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which awarded me with a TECHNE scholarship in 2014, I provide the first in- depth study of animal metaphors in the tragic depiction of female avengers. During my PhD, I undertook disciplinary and interdisciplinary activities to formulate the research methodology that my thesis presents. For instance, I attended [SIC] the Summer School Intermingling: Classics (University of Cologne), and the 3rd Summer School Challenging Limits: Performances of Ancient Drama, Controversies and Debates (University of Athens) in 2015. In addition, as an intern at the INDA (National Institute of Ancient Drama), I assisted at the stagecraft of the Senecan Medea in the 51st edition of performances at the Greek Theatre of Syracuse. Moreover, I presented the provisional results of the thesis in national (Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bristol, Exeter, London) and international (Madrid, Gothenburg, Athens, Verona, Cologne, Umeå) conferences, where I received constructive suggestions to develop my argument. I also used part of the material analysed in Chapter 2 to contribute to Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy (eds.), Revenge and Gender from Classical to Renaissance Literature (Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming). Furthermore, my 8 experience as a Classics teacher both in higher and secondary education allowed me to write a thesis that reflects the blended learning journey of my PhD. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to those people who assisted me in the writing of the thesis from its initial stages to its final draft. In particular, I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. Fiona McHardy, Prof. Susan Deacy and Dr. Susanne Greenhalgh for their helpful feedback and inspirational comments. I would like also to thank current and previous members of staff at the University of Roheampton, namely Prof. Mike Edwards, Dr. Marta Garcia- Morcillo, Prof. Ted Vallance and Dr. Arianna Ciula, for their academic support. A special thank goes to my boyfriend Daniele, my mother Paola, my father Paolo, my sister Valeria and my best friend Anna Chiara, who have encouraged me to complete my PhD despite all the difficulties. 9 Editions, Translations and Abbreviations All the references to classical literary texts are based on the editions available on the electronic database of the TLG. In the few cases annotated, I accept the variants from other MSS or adopt the conjectures proposed by other editors to support my reading of the tragic passages where a textual problem appears. I include translations of ancient Greek terms, borrowed and adapted from the LSJ, to make my thesis accessible to a wider audience. The translations of quotations from ancient Greek texts and works of scholars writing in languages other than English are my own. Authors and titles of ancient works are abbreviated according to the list of the OCD. The following list of abbreviations is based on the online version of L’Année Philologique. In addition to the journals referenced, it includes the abbreviations of the editions and the dictionaries adopted. A&A Antike und Abendland: Beiträge zum Verständnis der Griechen und Römer und ihres Nachlebens. Berlin: de Gruyter. AC L’Antiquité Classique, Bruxelles: [s. n.]. ACD Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis. Debrecen: Debreceni Egyptem. AJPh American Journal of Philology. Baltimore (Md.): Johns Hopkins University Press. 10 AncW The Ancient World: A scholarly journal for the study of Antiquity. Chicago (Ill.): Ares Publishers Arethusa Arethusa. Baltimore (Md.): Johns Hopkins University Press. Arion Arion: A journal of humanities and the classics. Boston (Mass.): Boston University, Office of Scholarly Publications. Athenaeum Athenaeum: Studi di letteratura e storia dell’antichità. Como: New Press. CJ The Classical Journal. Ashland (Va.): Randolph-Macon College, Department of Classics, Classical Association of the Middle West and South. ClAnt Classical Antiquity. Berkeley (Calif.): University of California Press. CLS Comparative Literature Studies. University Park (Pa.): Pennsylvania State University Press. CPh Classical Philology. Chicago (Ill.): University of Chicago Press. CQ Classical