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CHAPTER EIGHT Myth Michael J. Anderson Myths of violent conflict and turbulent crisis among the heroes of the distant past constituted a chief element of the collective cultural heritage in ancient Greece, and Athenian tragedy was one among several specialized art forms through which these myths were articulated and transmitted. In dramatizing stories of Orestes, Oedipus, and other familiar heroes, the tragedians blended tradition with contemporary innovation. They borrowed heavily from preceding poetry, particularly from the vast corpus of epic, but they also customarily reshaped inherited myths by modifying plots, introducing new characters, and even creating new episodes. The license to invent was not unlimited - with few exceptions the characters of drama remained located in the legendary world of the past and closely linked with established myths but a Greek tragedy was never merely a dramatic transcription of a preexisting narrative. Origins an d Functions o f Greek Myth The development of the corpus of Greek myths was a complex process of accumulation and synthesis. Many myths originated as dim reflections of the Mycenaean world, and epic characters like Ajax may in fact be survivals from Bronze Age poetic traditions. Other myths reflect the conditions of Greece in later periods, as for example the adventures of Jason and Odysseus reflect the influence of exploration and colonization in the centuries following the dark ages. Near Eastern tales of gods and heroes provided another rich source of inspiration for Greek myths, including some of the canonical myths of Zeus, Heracles, and Achilles. Herodotus credited Homer and Hesiod with the codification of the Greek pantheon (2.53), and epic poetry also offers the earliest evidence for the codification of heroic exploits - detailed genealogies connecting the various gods and heroes, as well as a rough chronological arrangement of Theban, Trojan, and other myth cycles. While the monumentality of the surviving Homeric and Hesiodic poems gives the impression that this tradition had become fixed by the seventh century - and most of the major myth cycles were established within the system by this time - the process of development did not come 122 Michael J. Anderson to a complete halt with any single poet or poem. Many tales of Theseus, for example, began to take shape only late in the sixth century, when Athenians reformed him into a legendary embodiment of their developing civic identity. And adaptive mythmaking continued throughout the fifth century in Athenian tragedy. For the communities that preserved and transmitted them, myths provided a revered form of validation for cultural institutions, practices, and beliefs. They recorded the foundation of cities and sanctuaries, explained the origins of religious rituals, conveyed beliefs about the gods, mapped out social relations and hierarchies, exemplified positive and negative behavior, and reflected generally upon the cycle of human life, exploring its most intense joys and its deepest sorrows. The frequent public presentation of myths in conjunction with religious and civic ceremonies provides abundant evidence of their authoritative status in ancient Greek society. Images of gods and heroes adorned sacred precincts, and religious festivals often featured the recitation of heroic epic and hymns recounting the births and exploits of the gods. The victory odes of Pindar and Bacchylides publicly celebrated successful contemporary athletes and their home cities by recalling the paradigmatic achievements of legendary heroes like Pelops, Heracles, and Perseus. Simonidcs' elegiac memorial to the warriors who fought at Plataea monumentalized the contemporary battle by invoking the precedent of the Trojan War (frs. 10-18 West). Tragedy too, performed in competition at festivals that honored the god Dionysus and celebrated Athens, was a highly authoritative, culturally relevant, and publicly endorsed articulation of myth. The Oresteia as Exemplar Aeschylus' Oresteia provides illustrations of several characteristic features of tragic myth. First, the trilogy exemplifies tragedy's general practice of inspiring reflection upon fundamental cultural values by dramatizing moments of violent conflict and crisis. In the first play Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon and defends her act as retribution for the murder of their daughter. In the second Orestes is obligated to honor his dead father by murdering his mother and her accomplice. And in the third play Orestes stands trial against the Furies on charges of matricide. Together these three depictions of conflict examine failed kinship relations, competing claims of maternal and paternal authority, differing conceptions of justice, and the community's power to intervene in private disputes. Secondly, the characters and plot of the Oresteia-, as of Greek tragedy in general, are partly traditional and partly invented. The Odyssey repeatedly invokes Agamemnon's homecoming and Orestes' vengeance as potential models for Odysseus' return and Telemachus' maturity to manhood, thus recognizing these stories as already firmly established several centuries before the production of the Oresteia. Fragments of the epic Returns (see Proclus' plot summary, in West 2003) and the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women (fr. 23a.27-30 Merkelbach and West) also preserve references to Orestes, and in the early sixth century Stesichorus composed an extended lyric account of Orestes' matricide and subsequent confrontation with the Furies (fr. 219 Page). Aeschylus adopted from these earlier poets not only a basic plot outline, but also specific narrative details. A prototype of the watchman who opens Agamemnon appears already in Odyssey 4: (524-28), and Stesichorus' poem provided a model for Myth Clytemnestra's prophetic dream in Libation Bearers. the mythic tradition, on the other hand, include ma reunion of brother and sister at the tomb of Agamer of Electra herself, and the resolution of Orestes' Athenian court of law. Third, the myth treated in the Oresteia is cultura not simply because it had been recounted by prece wider cultural significance of its subjects. Tragedy greater than normal social stature, characters whos personal achievements commanded respect. The C figures not as fictional poetic creations, but as semid And while not all of them merited emulation, many w through sacrifice and other ritual observances. Hero acting on advice from the Delphic oracle, retrieved th territory as a prerequisite to their conquest of this e century (1.68). This talc implies the existence of an C the belief that after death the heroes exercised a tali; harm. Aeschylus' drama accords Orestes a similarly pi patronage and Athena's intervention alone identify but Orestes' promise to punish from the grave any Athens and to bless those who support Athens (E u pates his eventual status as a cult hero with power to too, incidentally, enjoys a form of hero-worship in daughter honor their father at his tomb and seek 1 Clytemnestra. Moreover, the drama regards Orestes' nides as paradigmatic and foundational, serving to es of the Areopagus (482-88, 570-74, 681-710) anc (804-7, 927-29). Similarly, a myth first attested in Taurians explains the practice of drinking from indrv at the Athenian Anthesteria festival as ritual comn Athens (947-60), when the pollution of his matricid in communal activities. Finally, tragedy represents a contemporary, prcdon and reconfiguration of myth. The Oresteia celebrates t site of conflict resolution, a city that tames violence the weaknesses of other states into its own strenj Areopagus as the setting for conflict resolution a political controversy over the functions appropriate to chapter 1 in this volume). While conservative aristocr powers for the largely aristocratic institution, progress restrict the court's jurisdiction - a dispute evoked by Areopagus court and by the Furies' initial rejection c the contrast between the austere older Furies and the 79) recalls the continual political opposition of conser in fifth-century Athens, and the ultimately peaceful r to the satisfaction of all involved suggests a hope th peacefully accommodate the differing political views Anaerson Myth 123 CJytemnestra's prophetic dream in Libation Bearers. Aeschylus' own contributions to the mythic tradition, on the other hand, include major plot innovations such as the reunion of brother and sister at the tomb of Agamemnon, possibly the introduction of Electra herself, and the resolution of Orestes' conflict with the Furies in an Athenian court of law. Third, the myth treated in the Oresteia is culturally authoritative and prestigious not simply because it had been recounted by preceding poets, but because of the wider cultural significance of its subjects. Tragedy is populated by characters of greater than normal social stature, characters whose ancestry, political power, and personal achievements commanded respect. The Greeks regarded many of these figures not as fictional poetic creations, but as semidivine heroes of the distant past. And while not all of them merited emulation, many were judged worthy of veneration through sacrifice and other ritual observances. Herodotus records that the Spartans, acting on advice from the Delphic oracle, retrieved the bones of Orestes from Tegean territory as a prerequisite to their conquest of this enemy in the middle of the sixth century (1.68). This tale implies the existence of an Orestes cult at Sparta and reflects the belief that after death the heroes exercised a talismanic power to protect and to harm. Aeschylus' drama accords Orestes a similarly privileged cultural status. Apollo's patronage and Athena's intervention alone identify him as an extraordinary mortal, but Orestes' promise to punish from the grave any Argive who raises arms against Athens and to bless those who support Athens (Eumenides 767-74) boldly anticipates his eventual status as a cult hero with power to harm and to help. Agamemnon too, incidentally, enjoys a form of hero-worship in Libation Bearers, when son and daughter honor their father at his tomb and seek his aid in their struggle against Clytemnestra. Moreover, the drama regards Orestes' confrontation with the Eume nides as paradigmatic and foundational, serving to establish both the Athenian court of the Areopagus (482-88, 570-74, 681-710) and the shrine of the Eumenides (804-7, 927-29). Similarly, a myth first attested in Euripides' Iphigenia among the Taurians explains the practice of drinking from individual rather than shared vessels at the Athenian Anthesteria festival as ritual commemoration of Orestes' visit to Athens (947-60), when the pollution of his matricide barred him from participating in communal activities. Finally, tragedy represents a contemporary, predominantly Athenian appropriation and reconfiguration of myth. The Oresteia celebrates the city of Athens as a distinctive site of conflict resolution, a city that tames violence with persuasion and transforms the weaknesses of other states into its own strengths. Aeschylus' choice of the Areopagus as the setting for conflict resolution alludes conspicuously to recent political controversy over the functions appropriate to this ancient court (see Debnar, chapter 1 in this volume). While conservative aristocratic forces had advocated wider powers for the largely aristocratic institution, progressive democratic forces wished to restrict the court's jurisdiction - a dispute evoked by Athena's establishment of the Areopagus court and by the Furies' initial rejection of its authority. More generally, the contrast between the austere older Furies and the innovative younger gods (77879) recalls the continual political opposition of conservative and progressive elements in fifth-century Athens, and the ultimately peaceful resolution of the mythic dispute to the satisfaction of all involved suggests a hope that present-day Athens too can peacefully accommodate the differing political views of its inhabitants. In addition, Michael J. Anderson Orestes' pledge of continued friendship with Athens (762-74) provided mythic confirmation of a contemporary military alliance between Athens and Argos. While not all dramas praise Athens or mirror Athenian affairs so overtly, most view myth from a distinctly fifth-century perspective, and democratic institutions and Athenian values, though not always part of the plot machinery, are frequently invoked. Functions o f Myth in Tragedy Greek myths in general embody and explore fundamental social institutions and the beliefs and values associated with them. Greek tragedy in particular examines these institutions and values by dramatizing moments of extreme crisis, violent conflict, and emotional distress, moments in which traditional values are threatened and social bonds break down. Greek poets, including tragedians, sometimes employed myth for overtly didactic purposes by presenting heroic characters as decidedly positive or negative models, inspiring emulation or deserving censure. Pindar in his victory odes, for example, celebrates athletic champions by recounting the similarly praiseworthy achievements of mythic heroes, and conversely he cautions against human excesses by recalling legendary offences like Tantalus' misuse of nectar and ambrosia (Olympian 1.59-64), Ixion's attempt to rape Hera (Pythian 2.21-48), and Bellerophon's attempt to scale Olympus (Olympian 8.84-92, Isthmian 7.44-47). The Odyssey exhibits clear moral inclinations in rewarding its hero's exemplary conduct with a successful homecoming while punishing the overweening suitors and their accomplices with dishonorable deaths. Some tragedies share this moralistic view of a just universe in which the virtuous are rewarded and the wicked punished. The villains in these plays are often unquestionably villainous, and the concluding scenes appear to validate the actions of some characters while condemning the errors of others. Few spectators of Iphigenia among the Taurians, for example, could condone the barbarian practice of sacrificing strangers to Artemis, even if Athena did not intervene visibly at the play's conclusion and sternly reprimand the barbarian king. More commonly, however, the tragedians eschew simplistic illustrations of moral codes in their myths and instead inspire a more complex debate, presenting ethical dilemmas without assigning unqualified approval or condemnation. Such dramas are often more closely aligned with the Iliad, which is concerned less with Achilles' ethical choices than with the depth of the hero's suffering and the extremes of behavior that this suffering provokes. Thus Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus th e King exemplifies not reprehensible conduct or poor judgment so much as the inscrutability of human fortune and the fallibility of human intent. And the chorus's hollow attempts to find fault with his behavior only emphasize the failure of popular morality to explain extreme personal suffering. The trial in Aeschylus' Eumenides, with its balance of votes for acquittal and condemnation, offers a productive political resolution but not an objective ethical judgment of Orestes' matricide. Instead of sanctioning an individual act of homicide, the play venerates an institution that reconciles deadly differences peaceably. By far the most widespread instances of crisis and conflict in tragedy are those that threaten the institution of the family. Not only did the tragedians frequently dramatize disputes between family members - between sisters in Antigone, between husband and wife in Medea, for example - they repeatedly drew upon myths in which one family member kills or nearly kills another, thus dramatizing the most transgressive Myth violations of the most fundamental human bonds. The frequency violations are astonishing. They include the killing of one's own at Aulis, Medea,, Hippolytus, Heracles, Ion, Bacchae, recalled in A Oedipus' curse in Oedipus at Colonus), of a husband (Agamemnot or a wife (Heracles), of a mother (Libation Bearers, Sophocles' Electra, Ion), of a father (recalled in combination with incest ir figuratively of Polynices in Oedipus a t Colonus}, and of siblings (^ Phoenician Women, Iphigenia among th e Taurians). Related i conflict include the debates over the relative values of family mem and Orestes' near murder of and subsequent betrothal to Hen addition to these many instances of strife within the family, frequently arises from attempts to honor kin or preserve kin external threats. Antigone insists on performing burial rites for Creon's prohibitions. In Hecuba the former queen blinds Polyr for the murder of her son Polydorus. Menelaus attempts to pr against Theoclymenus in Helen, and in Andromache he intt Phthian affairs in support of his daughter. The revenge killings the Electra plays combine these two categories of family-based co exacted on behalf of one family member entails the killing of am Family crisis in Greek tragedy frequently centers upon a charac youth to adulthood. In ancient Greek communities, as in cont arrival at physical and sexual maturity entailed a considerable kinship and other social relationships, as young women left th assume the roles of wife and mother, and young men gainec independence from paternal authority and entered the ranks oft myth is rich in reflections of the passage into adulthood and its a Greek tragedy in particular explores several instances of incon irregular transitions. An extreme example is F.uripides' Hipf, Perseus, Jason, and Theseus typically mark their entry into adultl exploit, the slaying of a beast or monster, and then proceed surpassing rival suitors or successfully challenging the bride's fa Hippolytus, however, the hunting rite and the marital rite are sys Though on the threshold of adulthood physically, Hippolytus en rites of Aphrodite and instead declares perpetual devotion to Artemis. Refusing to assume an active sexual role, to pursue instead the passive object of his stepmother's incestuous desi paradoxically accuses him of rape, Hippolytus' alleged wooing conflict not with a bride's father, but with his own. Finally, inste manhood by slaying a monster, the perpetual adolescent himse monstrous bull of Poseidon. A similarly perverted passage into ac Sophocles' Oedipus th e King. Conforming to the heroic model, monster and thereby secured a wife, but his present investigatioi oracle of Apollo predicted and despite his contrary intentions, mother and slain his own father. Instead of directing adolescent a desire outwards and maturing beyond the kinship ties of his y directed these impulses against his own family, violating the clos through incest and parricide. Michael J. Anderson :>f continued friendship with Athens (762-74) provided mythic contemporary military alliance between Athens and Argos. While aise Athens or mirror Athenian affairs so overtly, most view myth ifth-century perspective, and democratic institutions and Athenian •t always part of the plot machinery, are frequently invoked. Functions of Myth in Tragedy :neral embody and explore fundamental social institutions and the associated with them. Greek tragedy in particular examines these Jues by dramatizing moments of extreme crisis, violent conflict, and >, moments in which traditional values are threatened and social i. Greek poets, including tragedians, sometimes employed myth for 'urposes by presenting heroic characters as decidedly positive or inspiring emulation or deserving censure. Pindar in his victory , celebrates athletic champions by recounting the similarly praise:nts of mythic heroes, and conversely he cautions against human ig legendary offences like Tantalus' misuse of nectar and ambrosia >4), Ixion's attempt to rape Hera (Pythian 2.21-48), and Bellero0 scale Olympus (Olympian 8.84-92, Isthmian 7.44-47). The ear moral inclinations in rewarding its hero's exemplary conduct homecoming while punishing the overweening suitors and their dishonorable deaths. Some tragedies share this moralistic view of a tich the virtuous are rewarded and the wicked punished. The villains often unquestionably villainous, and the concluding scenes appear ons of some characters while condemning the errors of others. Few jenia among the Taurians, for example, could condone the barbarificing strangers to Artemis, even if Athena did not intervene visibly usion and sternly reprimand the barbarian king. More commonly, :dians eschew simplistic illustrations of moral codes in their myths •e a more complex debate, presenting ethical dilemmas without led approval or condemnation. Such dramas are often more closely '•iad, which is concerned less with Achilles' ethical choices than with hero's suffering and the extremes of behavior that this suffering ledipus in Sophocles' Oedipus th e King exemplifies not reprehenoor judgment so much as the inscrutability of human fortune and man intent. And the chorus's hollow attempts to find fault with his >hasize the failure of popular morality to explain extreme personal 1 in Aeschylus' Eumenides, with its balance of votes for acquittal and fers a productive political resolution but not an objective ethical tes' matricide. Instead of sanctioning an individual act of homicide, an institution that reconciles deadly differences peaceably, widespread instances of crisis and conflict in tragedy are those that ution of the family. Not only did the tragedians frequently dramaeen family members - between sisters in Antigone, between husfedea, for example - they repeatedly drew upon myths in which one Is or nearly kills another, thus dramatizing the most transgressive Myth 125 violations of the most fundamental human bonds. The frequency and variety of such violations are astonishing. They include the killing of one's own offspring (Iphigenia at Aulis, Medea, Hippolytus, Heracles, Ion, Bacchae, recalled in Agamemnon; compare Oedipus' curse in Oedipus at Colonus), of a husband (Agamemnon, Women ofTrachis] or a wife (Heracles], of a mother (Libation Bearers, Sophocles' Electra, Euripides' Electro-, Ion), of a father (recalled in combination with incest in Oedipus th e King, figuratively of Polynices in Oedipus a t Colonus}, and of siblings (Seven against Thebes, Phoenician Women, Iphigenia among th e Taurians}. Related instances of kinship conflict include the debates over the relative values of family members' lives in Alcestis and Orestes' near murder of and subsequent betrothal to Hermione in Orestes. In addition to these many instances of strife within the family, tragic conflict also frequently arises from attempts to honor kin or preserve kinship bonds against external threats. Antigone insists on performing burial rites for her brother despite Creon's prohibitions. In Hecuba the former queen blinds Polymestor in retaliation for the murder of her son Polydorus. Menelaus attempts to preserve his marriage against Theoclymenus in Helen, and in Andromache he intervenes violently in Phthian affairs in support of his daughter. The revenge killings in the Oresteia and the Electra plays combine these two categories of family-based conflict, as retribution exacted on behalf of one family member entails the killing of another. Family crisis in Greek tragedy frequently centers upon a character's transition from youth to adulthood. In ancient Greek communities, as in contemporary societies, arrival at physical and sexual maturity entailed a considerable reconfiguration of kinship and other social relationships, as young women left their birth families to assume the roles of wife and mother, and young men gained some measure of independence from paternal authority and entered the ranks of the citizenry. Heroic myth is rich in reflections of the passage into adulthood and its attendant rituals, and Greek tragedy in particular explores several instances of incomplete or otherwise irregular transitions. An extreme example is Euripides' Hippolytus. Heroes like Perseus, Jason, and Theseus typically mark their entry into adulthood with a hunting exploit, the slaying of a beast or monster, and then proceed to secure wives by surpassing rival suitors or successfully challenging the bride's father. In the case of Hippolytus, however, the hunting rite and the marital rite are systematically inverted. Though on the threshold of adulthood physically, Hippolytus emphatically shuns the rites of Aphrodite and instead declares perpetual devotion to the virgin huntress Artemis. Refusing to assume an active sexual role, to pursue a wife, he becomes instead the passive object of his stepmother's incestuous desires. And when she paradoxically accuses him of rape, Hippolytus' alleged wooing catapults him into conflict not with a bride's father, but with his own. Finally, instead of confirming his manhood by slaying a monster, the perpetual adolescent himself falls victim to the monstrous bull of Poseidon. A similarly perverted passage into adulthood lies behind Sophocles' Oedipus th e King. Conforming to the heroic model, Oedipus has slain a monster and thereby secured a wife, but his present investigations reveal that, as the oracle of Apollo predicted and despite his contrary intentions, he has married his mother and slain his own father. Instead of directing adolescent aggression and sexual desire outwards and maturing beyond the kinship ties of his youth, he has in fact directed these impulses against his own family, violating the closest of kinship bonds through incest and parricide. 126 Michael J. Anderson Sophocles' Antigone and Euripides' Iphigenia a t Aulisprovide notable examples of female characters who fail to reach adulthood. Instead of leaving her father's house and forming a new family with Haemon, Antigone devotes herself completely to her brothers and ultimately joins them in death (see in particular the disputed lines 90420). Sophocles underscores the contrast between her tragic death and the marriage she might have enjoyed by characterizing the subterranean enclosure in which she dies as a kind of perverted bridal chamber (891; compare 806-16). Euripides engineers a similar opposition between marriage and premature death in Iphigenia a t Aulis. Although led to Aulis with the promise of marriage to Achilles (another hero, incidentally, often characterized by failure to enter fully into adulthood), the virgin daughter of Agamemnon will instead be sacrificed to the virgin goddess Artemis and never attain maturity. Several scenes of the drama feature disturbing juxtapositions of marital and sacrificial motifs, as for example when Clytemnestra anxiously inquires about the wedding preparations and Agamemnon's equivocal responses anticipate instead the imminent sacrifice (716-41). And the chorus paints a vivid contrast between the joyful festivities that once accompanied Thetis' marriage to Peleus and the bloody ritual killing of Iphigenia soon to be performed (1036-97). In both of these plays attention to marriage as the traditional rite of passage for young women may be understood as emphasizing the perversity of the execution or sacrifice. Insofar as Antigone and Iphigenia embrace their deaths, however, the juxtaposition with marriage also distinguishes these heroines as extraordinary figures and monumentalizes their sacrifice. In contrast to these premature deaths, Sophocles' Women o f Trachis concludes with a successful but decidedly unconventional entry into adulthood. Heracles' deathbed instructions to his son Hyllus - to light his funeral pyre while he still lives and to marry his concubine lole - carry troubling undertones of parricide and incest. Yet these near violations of kinship bonds serve to salvage the remains of a family in turmoil. By burning his father's body Hyllus releases him from the torments of Deianira's poisoned robe, and the paternally sanctioned marriage between lole and Hyllus neatly replaces the disastrous extramarital relationship between lole and Heracles. A less ambiguously successful coming-of-age myth is dramatized in Sophocles' Philoctetes. Here Neoptolemus, whose assumption of Achilles' role at Troy was traditionally symbolized by the inheritance of his father's armor (see Proclus' summary of the Little Iliad in West 2003, and compare Philoctetes 62-63), aligns himself with Achilles also in ethical terms. Though at first tempted to adopt Odysseus' stratagem of deception, he instead joins the recalcitrant Philoctetes in resistance to the entire Achaean army, thereby adopting a stance of indignation and defiance commonly associated with his father. Other dramas that address entry into adulthood include Aeschylus' Suppliants and the many plays featuring Orestes and Electra. Another typical concern of tragic myth is conflict between an individual or family and a larger community, specifically a polis or an army. Myths of the Trojan War, in particular, highlight disagreements between individual warriors and the wider contingent of Greeks. Aeschylus' lost Myrmidons was modeled on the hero's withdrawal from the fighting as previously narrated in the Iliad'.'And Achilles is again featured acting upon his individual convictions and preserving his own honor in Iphigenia a t Aulis, where he alone among the leaders contests the decision to sacrifice Iphigenia. Myth Conflict arises in Sophocles' Ajaxwhen the he differs from the assessment rendered by the an island of Lemnos has left the title hero of So against the Greek army at Troy. Examples of c communities are also abundant. The Argive c to death in Euripides' Orestes. In Oedipus th e K Laius from Thebes, thereby unknowingly ban community from a plague. Creon in Antigone condemns the heroine's resistance as an affi Colonus Oedipus declares allegiance to Athen mer ties to Thebes. In addition, tragedies c military confrontation between communities, through the lens of personal enmity or privat Seven against Thebes centers upon a feud bet ants, while recalling the war of the Seven and r Athens and Thebes, foregrounds instead the \r Trojan Women displays the lamentations of immediate aftermath of the city's fall. Several tragedies examine relationships bet dramatizing an act of supplication. The supp statue, or other hallowed place, technically in is incumbent upon those who control the s; request and thereby preserve the sanctity o instances of supplication serve as a focal point (Andromache and Ion), the convergence oi representatives upon a sanctuary provides se political conflict and debate over communal v refuge at a statue of Athena in Aeschylus' Em body of Athenian citizens to settle the dispu cation thus precipitates a radical redefinition c the hands of individuals (Orestes and Clyter (Apollo and the Furies), but entrusted inst< community. In assuming this authority, the cc populace strife originally centered solely upoi 87). But this risk is far outweighed by the cil perpetual alliance between Athens and Arg< rehabilitated Eumenides to protect the city, : its prosperity (916-1020). Acts of supplicatic or private disputes also in Aeschylus' Suppl Euripides' Suppliants and Children ofHeracle these plays again endangers the community intervention simultaneously offers substantia Colonus and Children o f Heracles the establi future protection against enemy states: again while in the latter, paradoxically, the hostil Athens as a talisman against future Heraclu hael J. Anderson es' Iphigenia a t Aulisprovide notable examples of adulthood. Instead of leaving her father's house :mon, Antigone devotes herself completely to her in death (see in particular the disputed lines 904itrast between her tragic death and the marriage :erizing the subterranean enclosure in which she lamber (891; compare 806-16). Euripides enginarriage and premature death in Iphigenia a t Aulis. )romise of marriage to Achilles (another hero, failure to enter fully into adulthood), the virgin id be sacrificed to the virgin goddess Artemis and of the drama feature disturbing juxtapositions of • example when Clytemnestra anxiously inquires id Agamemnon's equivocal responses anticipate 6-41). And the chorus paints a vivid contrast nee accompanied Thetis' marriage to Peleus and ia soon to be performed (1036-97). In both of the traditional rite of passage for young women :he perversity of the execution or sacrifice. Insofar e their deaths, however, the juxtaposition with roines as extraordinary figures and monumentalieaths, Sophocles' Women o f Trachis concludes nconventional entry into adulthood. Heracles' rllus - to light his funeral pyre while he still lives - carry troubling undertones of parricide and kinship bonds serve to salvage the remains of a icr's body Hyllus releases him from the torments he paternally sanctioned marriage between lole trous extramarital relationship between lole and fill coming-of-age myth is dramatized in Sophos, whose assumption of Achilles' role at Troy inheritance of his father's armor (see Proclus' West 2003, and compare Pkiloctetes 62-63), ethical terms. Though at first tempted to adopt he instead joins the recalcitrant Philoctetes in ly, thereby adopting a stance of indignation and his father. Other dramas that address entry into bliants and the many plays featuring Orestes myth is conflict between an individual or family a polis or an army. Myths of the Trojan War, in Between individual warriors and the wider conyrmidonswzs modeled on the hero's withdrawal ited in the Iliad. And Achilles is again featured is and preserving his own honor in Iphigenia a t ders contests the decision to sacrifice Iphigenia. Myth 127 Conflict arises in Sophocles' Ajax when the hero's assessment of his value as a warrior differs from the assessment rendered by the army's leaders. And abandonment on the island of Lemnos has left the title hero of Sophocles' Philoctetes bitter and enraged against the Greek army at Troy. Examples of discord between individuals and citizen communities are also abundant. The Argive citizenry condemns Orestes and Electra to death in Euripides' Orestes. In Oedipus th e King Oedipus banishes the murderer of Laius from Thebes, thereby unknowingly banishing himself, in order to rescue the community from a plague. Creon in Antigone, claiming to speak for the community, condemns the heroine's resistance as an affront to the state. And in Oedipus a t Colonus Oedipus declares allegiance to Athens while adamantly renouncing his former ties to Thebes. In addition, tragedies occasionally depict, or rather recount, military confrontation between communities, but such hostilities are viewed primarily through the lens of personal enmity or private suffering. Thus the war in Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes centers upon a feud between two brothers. Euripides' Suppliants, while recalling the war of the Seven and recounting a subsequent engagement of Athens and Thebes, foregrounds instead the burial of the fallen Argive warriors. And rather than focusing on ambushes and battles during the night of Troy's capture, Trojan Women displays the lamentations of Hecuba and her fellow captives in the immediate aftermath of the city's fall. Several tragedies examine relationships between individuals and communities by dramatizing an act of supplication. The suppliant, in seeking refuge at an altar, cult statue, or other hallowed place, technically invokes the protection of the gods, but it is incumbent upon those who control the sacred precinct to grant the suppliant's request and thereby preserve the sanctity of the location. Although some tragic instances of supplication serve as a focal point for conflict within or between families (Andromache and Ion], the convergence of suppliant, pursuers, and community representatives upon a sanctuary provides several dramas with an ideal setting for political conflict and debate over communal values. When, for example, Orestes takes refuge at a statue of Athena in Aeschylus' Eumenides, the goddess appoints an august body of Athenian citizens to settle the dispute by trial (470-88). The act of supplication thus precipitates a radical redefinition of the conflict, as justice is left neither in the hands of individuals (Orestes and Clytemnestra) nor in the realm of the divine (Apollo and the Furies), but entrusted instead to representatives of the Athenian community. In assuming this authority, the community risks incurring upon its entire populace strife originally centered solely upon an individual (476-79, 719-20, 78087). But this risk is far outweighed by the city's ultimate gains, Orestes' pledge of a perpetual alliance between Athens and Argos (762-77), and the promises of the rehabilitated Eumenides to protect the city, safeguard its internal peace, and ensure its prosperity (916-1020). Acts of supplication prompt states to intervene in foreign or private disputes also in Aeschylus' Suppliants, Sophocles' Oedipus a t Colonus, and Euripides' Suppliantsand Children of Heracles. The choice to support the suppliant in these plays again endangers the community with the threat of military conflict, but intervention simultaneously offers substantial potential benefits. In both Oedipus a t Colonus and Children o f Heracles the establishment of hero cults promises Athens future protection against enemy states: against Thebes in the former play (607-28), while in the latter, paradoxically, the hostile pursuer Eurystheus is entombed in Athens as a talisman against future Heraclid aggression (1026-36). In Euripides' 128 Mich del J. Anderson Suppliants the bones of the Argive heroes are returned to Argos for burial, but the substitute burial in Athens of a sacrificial knife provides the city with protective powers analogous to those of hero shrines (1183-1212). A third general category of conflict witnessed in tragedy pits a mortal character against a divine antagonist. Oedipus' self-discovery in Oedipus th e King is the climax of a long and unsuccessful struggle against Apollo's oracle. Euripides' Andromache recalls that Neoptolemus challenged Apollo at Delphi (49-55, and compare 10851165). In Prometheus Bound a Titan with pronounced mortal sympathies suffers for opposing the will of Zeus, while lo suffers as an object of Zeus' lust and Hera's jealousy. Artemis confronts Agamemnon with a painful dilemma in Iphigenia atAulis and in the parados of Agamemnon. This category of opposition is also easily recognizable in Eumenides, Ajax, Hippolytus, Heracles, and Bacchae, where adversarial divinities actually appear on stage. While Orestes prevails in Eumenides with the assistance of other divinities, the typical confrontation between mortal and god instead highlights the supremacy of the latter and the limitations of the former. With the exceptions of Dionysus, Demeter, and some lesser divinities, the immortals of Greek myth existed largely above the reach of the deepest mortal suffering. Although Artemis, for example, can feel sorrow over Hippolytus' misfortune (Hippolytus 1338-40), she cannot defile herself by witnessing his death (1437-38). Thus the gods were never, it seems, chosen as the principal subjects of tragedy without some accompanying involvement of mortals. The experiences of these greater-than-human beings simply could not generate in an audience the pity and fear that Aristotle judged essential to tragedy. Insofar as it explores institutions common to all or most societies, tragedy can lay claim to near universal cultural significance. But Athenian tragedy developed out of a specific cultural tradition and within a specific cultural environment, and many of the institutions it explores and the forms they assume are particular to ancient Greece. One element that frequently advertises tragedy's local significance is the inclusion of an aetiology - an interpretation of the play's action as the foundation story for a contemporary cultural institution - at the close of the play. In this, tragedy continues a long tradition of poetic mythmaking that grounded religious practices in the distant past. So, for example, the myth of Prometheus' duplicitous sacrifice at Mecone, as narrated in Hesiod's TToeqgony (535-60), explains why the Greeks customarily offered to the gods the less valuable portions of sacrificial animals. And the Homeric Hymn to Demeter records the foundation of the sanctuary at Eleusis and implicitly characterizes the Eleusinian mysteries as a commemorative reenactment of the goddess' sojourn there. Several tragedies end with divinities announcing the establishment of religious institutions in Attica, thereby setting a seal upon the action of the drama with the promise of perpetual ritual commemoration. Examples include the worship of the "kindly goddesses" instituted in the Eumenides, of Oedipus in Oedipus a t Colonus, of Hippolytus at Troezen in Hippolytus, and cults of Artemis at Halae and Brauron in Iphigenia a t Aulis. Tragedy also provides aetiologies for a variety of other social institutions. Eumenides offers a foundation myth for the court of the Areopagus, together with the custom of counting a tie vote as an acquittal (741-42, 75253; compare Euripides' Electra 1266-69, Iphigenia among the Taurians 1469-72). Thetis in Andromache announces the continuation of her own, Peleus', and Andromache's lineage in the succession of Molossian kings, thereby celebrating a contemporary dynasty (1243-49). Ac foundation of the city of Aetna. Ion id all the lonians and proclaims Athens Achaeans( 1571-94). Aeschylus' Persians, with its detaile anomalous in its attention to specific 6.21 on Phrynichus' Capture o f Mile upon the politics and history of fifthColonus and Euripides in his Supplian ruler, a king who shares political auth Pelasgus in Aeschylus' Suppliants). Cr tions in Oedipus th e King (583-602) ai breeds the tyrant" (873), suggest de power in the hands of a single individv characterization of his brother in Iphipf with all when canvassing for votes but g law do not appear regularly in tragec extended formal debates, or agones, cc at least familiarity with the judicial sys foreign policy: alliance with Argos in th toward Thebes in Oedipus a t Colonus reputation as a dependable sanctuary f contemporary history. Herodotus rec Plataea began with an act of supplicati Trojan Women is often read in conjunct 416 BCE (see Thucydides 5.84-116), against a clear causal relationship betwe Erp Taalman Kip 1987). It is also temj King was inspired by the plague that Peloponnesian War (see Thucydides 2. While thus deeply embedded in its { thcless preserves neither an exact nor ; and history. Although, for example, At tragedy lacks crisis centered upon mar part to the inherited traditions of Greek illustrious lineage, not merchants or limited cultural esteem of these occuj were pursued not by Athenian citizens visitors. The images of the contcmporai and often oblique, emblematic rather t to Athenian comedy to find a more in with contemporary society. Bringing N Although Aristotle records that both Antheus were wholly invented (Poett Myth e heroes are returned to Argos for burial, but the sacrificial knife provides the city with protective > shrines (1183-1212). iflict witnessed in tragedy pits a mortal character us' self-discovery in Oedipus th e King is the climax le against Apollo's oracle. Euripides' Andromache ed Apollo at Delphi (49-55, and compare 1085an with pronounced mortal sympathies suffers for lo suffers as an object of Zeus' lust and Hera's mnon with a painful dilemma in Iphijyenia atAulis i. This category of opposition is also easily recog<polytus, Heracles, and Bacchae, where adversarial e. While Orestes prevails in Eumenides with the ; typical confrontation between mortal and god of the latter and the limitations of the former. Demeter, and some lesser divinities, the immortals ?ove the reach of the deepest mortal suffering, can feel sorrow over Hippolytus' misfortune : defile herself by witnessing his death (1437-38). sms, chosen as the principal subjects of tragedy olvement of mortals. The experiences of these f could not generate in an audience the pity and to tragedy. s common to all or most societies, tragedy can lay tiificance. But Athenian tragedy developed out of a in a specific cultural environment, and many of the rms they assume are particular to ancient Greece, -tises tragedy's local significance is the inclusion of }f the play's action as the foundation story for a - at the close of the play. In this, tragedy continues dng that grounded religious practices in the distant •f Prometheus' duplicitous sacrifice at Mecone, as 3-60), explains why the Greeks customarily offered >ns of sacrificial animals. And the Homeric Hymn t o f the sanctuary at Eleusis and implicitly charactera commemorative reenactment of the goddess' id with divinities announcing the establishment of ereby setting a seal upon the action of the drama al commemoration. Examples include the worship ited in the Eumenides, of Oedipus in Oedipus a t i in Hippolytus, and cults of Artemis at Halae and gedy also provides aetiologies for a variety of other rs a foundation myth for the court of the Areopacounting a tie vote as an acquittal (741-42, 752166-69, Iphiyenia among th e Taurians 1469-72). es the continuation of her own, Peleus', and cession of Molossian kings, thereby celebrating a 129 contemporary dynasty (1243-49). Aeschylus' lost Women o f Aetna dramatized the foundation of the city of Aetna. Io n identifies its hero as the eponymous ancestor of all the lonians and proclaims Athens the ancestral origin of lonians, Dorians, and Achacans( 1571-94). Aeschylus' Persians, with its detailed account of the naval victory at Salamis, is anomalous in its attention to specific events of the recent past (compare Herodotus 6.21 on Phrynichus' Capture o f Miletus], but several plays reflect more generally upon the politics and history of fifth-century Athens. Sophocles in his Oedipus a t Colonus and Euripides in his Suppliants portray Theseus as a prototypic democratic ruler, a king who shares political authority with the populace (compare the Argive Pelasgus in Aeschylus' Suppliants}. Creon's adamant disavowal of tyrannical ambitions in Oedipus th e King (583-602) and the chorus's moralizing dictum, "insolence breeds the tyrant" (873), suggest democratic unease over concentrating political power in the hands of a single individual. Conspicuously anachronistic is Menelaus' characterization of his brother in Iphigenia i n Aulis as a politician who curries favor with all when canvassing for votes but grows aloof once in office (337-48). Courts of law do not appear regularly in tragedy outside the Oresteia and Orestes, but the extended formal debates, or agones, common in Euripides' plays, attest interest or at least familiarity with the judicial system. Several plays allude to current Athenian foreign policy: alliance with Argos in the Oresteia and Euripides' Suppliants, hostility toward Thebes in Oedipus a t Colonus and toward Sparta in Andromache. Athens' reputation as a dependable sanctuary for suppliants in tragedy also finds parallels in contemporary history. Herodotus records that the alliance between Athens and Plataea began with an act of supplication in the Athenian agora (6.108). Euripides' Trojan Women is often read in conjunction with the Athenian destruction of Mclos in 416 BCE (see Thucydides 5.84-116), although chronological considerations argue against a clear causal relationship between the historical event and the drama (see van Erp Taalman Kip 1987). It is also tempting to believe that the plague in Oedipus the King was inspired by the plague that devastated Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (see Thucydides 2.47-54). While thus deeply embedded in its particular cultural context, tragic myth nevertheless preserves neither an exact nor a comprehensive account of Athenian society and history. Although, for example, Athens was a highly successful mercantile state, tragedy lacks crisis centered upon manufacture and trade. This avoidance is due in part to the inherited traditions of Greek myth, whose heroes are warriors and kings of illustrious lineage, not merchants or industrial entrepreneurs, and in part to the limited cultural esteem of these occupations in contemporary Athens, where they were pursued not by Athenian citizens, but predominantly by foreign residents and visitors. The images of the contemporary world in tragedy's mythical past are selective and often oblique, emblematic rather than descriptive. Historians must turn instead to Athenian comedy to find a more inclusive and more direct fictional engagement with contemporary society. Bringing Myth to the Stage Although Aristotle records that both the characters and the plot of Agathon's Antheus were wholly invented (Poetics 145lb21-23), such independence from 130 Michael J. Anderson established myth was uncommon among the tragedians. In referring to his dramas as "slices from the banquet of Homer" (Athenaeus 347e), Aeschylus reverently acknowledged the debt the tragedians owed to heroic epic, and a brief survey of the surviving plays reveals repeated borrowing from canonical traditions. Eight plays, approximately one fourth of the corpus, are based on familiar myths of the Trojan War, and the fragments record a similarly high percentage of Trojan plays overall. The popularity of this material among the dramatists stems partly from the monumental status of the Iliad and the Odyssey in the Greek poetic tradition and partly from the sheer number and variety of well-known myths surrounding the war against Troy. The surviving plays include three stories of discord within the Greek army (Ajax, Philoctetes, Iphigenia a t Aulis], one account of a night raid on the Trojan camp (Rhesus), three accounts of the suffering of the Trojan captives (Hecuba, Trojan Women, Andromache}, and one account of the reunion of Helen and Menelaus in Egypt after the war (Helen). Another seven of the surviving tragedies draw upon wellknown traditions of the family of Agamemnon (eight \f Iphigenia atAulisis included here instead of with the Trojan material). While the Trojan War figures in the background of these myths, their appeal to the tragedians lies primarily in the violent family conflicts they record. An interest in kinship strife also repeatedly attracted the dramatists to Theban legend. Six plays treat Oedipus and his fratricidal sons, and Eacchae reaches its conclusion with the dismemberment of Pentheus at the hands of his mother and her sisters. Tragic innovations upon the banquet of heroic tradition assumed many forms. In a handful of works the dramatists adhered to tradition with little noticeable alteration of plot or character, and exercised artistic license instead by emphasizing particular characters or dramatic perspectives over others. The Euripidean Rhesus, for example, preserves the basic elements of the myth found in Iliad 10. In both works Hector sends Dolon to spy on the Achaeans, but Odysseus and Diomedes intercept him and subsequently slaughter the newly arrived Rhesus. As in the epic, so too in the tragedy Dolon is promised the horses of Achilles as his reward, but Odysseus and Diomedes thwart Dolon's expectations and make off with Rhesus' horses instead. The circumstances surrounding the raid are also the same in both epic and drama: Achilles has withdrawn from the fighting and in his absence Hector anticipates Trojan victory. Apart from brief appearances of Athena and Paris, in fact, the play introduces little substantive alteration of the inherited myth. The tragic dramatization does, however, differ from the epic in its greater development of characters in the Trojan camp. Whereas in the Iliad we glimpse Rhesus only when sleeping or dead, the drama casts him in an active role, boasting that he will rid Troy of its enemies in a single day (443-50). And the dramatist offers a more intimate perspective on the catastrophe by introducing both Rhesus' charioteer, who delivers a grim report of the hero's death and accuses Hector of the murder (756-855), and Rhesus' mother, who arrives at the play's close to lament and retrieve the corpse. Trojan Women, despite its unconventional tripartite structure, is constructed around several traditional plot elements attested in the fragments of the epics Little Iliad and the Sack of Troy: Helen's reunion with Menelaus, the sacrifice of Polyxena at Achilles' tomb, the allotment of Cassandra to Agamemnon and of Andromache to Neoptolemus, and the murder of Astyanax. The drama's originality lies not in any Myth significant departure from this tradition, but in the elements into a series of encounters with the Tro farewells to Cassandra and Andromache followed b Helen. This final encounter, staged as a debate over execute his adulterous wife, replays in agonistic forn initially intended to kill Helen upon discovering her the sight of her beauty (Little Iliad fr. 28, West 20( Tragedians occasionally altered mythic traditions i a new principal character into an established plot, in Sophocles' Philoctetes. In contrast to earlier i Diomedes (as in the epic Cypria), Odysseus (in Ae; in combination (in Euripides' Philoctetes) retrieve Lemnos, Sophocles' play introduces Neoptolemu duplicitous Odysseus. Epic attests at least two othc mus and Odysseus cooperate. The Little Iliad crcdi tolemus to Troy and giving him the arms of his fath in West 2003). And the Odyssey, recalling Neoptolen under Odysseus' command in the wooden horse, with the patience of the more experienced leader newly fashioned expedition Neoptolemus' distaste for the ailing Philoctetes soon dissolve his parti resolution to return to Greece threatens a radica record his participation in Troy's capture. The di the play's close, with prophetic instructions for 1 rejoin the campaign, reconciles the action of this the obvious artificiality of this intervention underscc cles' portrayal of an idealistic Neoptolemus and depicted elsewhere. The participation of Electra in the murders of unattested in literary sources before the fifth ccnti polation. The surviving plays chart her developme figure and simultaneously attest to the variety of character in a single myth. In Aeschylus' Libation 1 to Orestes in importance, adamantly opposed to Cl tive or power to oppose her alone. She joins Ores father, and her hatred for Clytemnestra stimulates h clearly distances her from the murders, assigning 1 trap, and she remains silent throughout the seconi Euripides, in contrast, diminish the role of Orestes ; around Electra, who but for a few brief absences rei both plays. In Sophocles' play she aggressively opp by confronting her mother directly, plotting to m and 1019-20), and chiding her timid sister (probab for failing to assist. In Euripides' play a humiliating her bitterness, and she rivals Orestes' involvement her mother into the house where she will meet Clytemnestra's sinister past (compare the carpet s< Michael]. Anderson •mmon among the tragedians. In referring to his dramas as of Homer" (Athenaeus 347e), Aeschylus reverently actragedians owed to heroic epic, and a brief survey of the >eated borrowing from canonical traditions. Eight plays, of the corpus, are based on familiar myths of the Trojan :ord a similarly high percentage of Trojan plays overall. The among the dramatists stems partly from the monumental : Odyssey in the Greek poetic tradition and partly from the of well-known myths surrounding the war against Troy, ie three stories of discord within the Greek army (Ajax, \ulis), one account of a night raid on the Trojan camp of die suffering of the Trojan captives (Hecuba, Trojan d one account of the reunion of Helen and Menelaus in ). Another seven of the surviving tragedies draw upon wellnily of Agamemnon (eight if Iphijjenia atAulisis included Trojan material). While the Trojan War figures in the s, their appeal to the tragedians lies primarily in the violent i. An interest in kinship strife also repeatedly attracted the :nd. Six plays treat Oedipus and his fratricidal sons, and iion with the dismemberment of Pentheus at the hands of n the banquet of heroic tradition assumed many forms, ic dramatists adhered to tradition with little noticeable cter, and exercised artistic license instead by emphasizing matic perspectives over others. The Euripidean Rhesus, for ic elements of the myth found in Iliad 10. In both works y on the Achaeans, but Odysseus and Diomedes intercept ighter the newly arrived Rhesus. As in the epic, so too in ised the horses of Achilles as his reward, but Odysseus and ; expectations and make off with Rhesus' horses instead, inding the raid are also the same in both epic and rawn from the fighting and in his absence Hector anticirt from brief appearances of Athena and Paris, in fact, substantive alteration of the inherited myth. The tragic :ver, differ from the epic in its greater development of camp. Whereas in the Iliad we glimpse Rhesus only e drama casts him in an active role, boasting that he will a single day (443-50). And the dramatist offers a more lie catastrophe by introducing both Rhesus' charioteer, t of the hero's death and accuses Hector of the murder mother, who arrives at the play's close to lament and its unconventional tripartite structure, is constructed plot elements attested in the fragments of the epics Little Helen's reunion with Menelaus, the sacrifice of Polyxena at ent of Cassandra to Agamemnon and of Andromache to irder of Astyanax. The drama's originality lies not in any Myth 131 significant departure from this tradition, but in the dramatic configuration of these elements into a series of encounters with the Trojan queen Hecuba - her painful farewells to Cassandra and Andromache followed by her bitter parting quarrel with Helen. This final encounter, staged as a debate over whether or not Menelaus should execute his adulterous wife, replays in agonistic form the epic tradition that Menelaus initially intended to kill Helen upon discovering her at Troy but dropped his sword at the sight of her beauty (Little Iliad fr. 28, West 2003). Tragedians occasionally altered mythic traditions more substantially by introducing a new principal character into an established plot, as is the case with Neoptolemus in Sophocles' Philoctetes. In contrast to earlier versions of the myth, in which Diomedes (as in the epic Cypria), Odysseus (in Aeschylus' Philoctetes}, or both men in combination (in Euripides' Philoctetes) retrieve Philoctetes and his bow from Lemnos, Sophocles' play introduces Neoptolemus as a potential protege of the duplicitous Odysseus. Epic attests at least two other occasions on which Neoptolemus and Odysseus cooperate. The Little Iliad credits Odysseus with bringing Neoptolemus to Troy and giving him the arms of his father Achilles (see Proclus' summary in West 2003). And the Odyssey, recalling Neoptolemus' inclusion among the warriors under Odysseus' command in the wooden horse, contrasts his youthful eagerness with the patience of the more experienced leader (11.523-32). But in Sophocles' newly fashioned expedition Neoptolemus' distaste for deception and his sympathy for the ailing Philoctetes soon dissolve his partnership with Odysseus, and his resolution to return to Greece threatens a radical departure from traditions that record his participation in Troy's capture. The divine intervention of Heracles at the play's close, with prophetic instructions for Philoctetes and Neoptolemus to rejoin the campaign, reconciles the action of this play with established myth, but the obvious artificiality of this intervention underscores the disparity between Sopho cles' portrayal of an idealistic Neoptolemus and the murderous youth we find depicted elsewhere. The participation of Electra in the murders of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, also unattested in literary sources before the fifth century, may be another tragic interpolation. The surviving plays chart her development from a subsidiary to a central figure and simultaneously attest to the variety of treatments possible for a single character in a single myth. In Aeschylus' Libation Bearers Electra remains secondary to Orestes in importance, adamantly opposed to Clytemnestra but lacking the initiative or power to oppose her alone. She joins Orestes in a moving lament for their father, and her hatred for Clytemnestra stimulates her brother's anger; but Aeschylus clearly distances her from the murders, assigning her no role in preparing Orestes' trap, and she remains silent throughout the second half of the play. Sophocles and Euripides, in contrast, diminish the role of Orestes and organize their dramas instead around Electra, who but for a few brief absences remains onstage for the duration of both plays. In Sophocles' play she aggressively opposes Aegisthus and Clytemnestra by confronting her mother directly, plotting to murder Aegisthus herself (954-57 and 1019-20), and chiding her timid sister (probably another Sophoclean invention) for failing to assist. In Euripides' play a humiliating marriage to a peasant exacerbates her bitterness, and she rivals Orestes' involvement in the murders by actively luring her mother into the house where she will meet death - a deed reminiscent of Clytemnestra's sinister past (compare the carpet scene in Agamemnon). It is most 132 Michael J. Anderson unlikely that she played a similarly aggressive role in earlier works of which no record survives. Another common form of substantial innovation is the insertion of new episodes into established narrative frameworks. According to early epic fragments, after his madness and suicide Ajax's body was buried in a coffin as a mark of dishonor, a divergence from the normal epic practice of cremation (Little Iliad fr. 3, West 2003). Sophocles' Aja-x expands this detail into a potentially deadly conflict between advocates and opponents of proper burial and ultimately contradicts the epic record of dishonor. The three other dramas that include lengthy verbal disputes over burial - Antigone, Oedipus a t Colonus, and Euripides' Suppliants— are similarly suggestive of tragic extrapolation. Such verbal conflict may also be viewed more broadly as a tragic analogue to the epic motifs of battling over, mutilating, and ransoming corpses. Remarkable in the case of both Andromache and Iphigenia among the Taurians is the extent to which Euripides duplicates motifs traditionally associated with these characters elsewhere to construct new plots. In Phthia Andromache essentially relives her past suffering at Troy. The fickle Hermione now fills the role played formerly by her mother Helen, while the hostile Menelaus replaces the menacing Greek army. The death of Neoptolemus parallels the death of Hector, and the threats to Andromache's son recall the murder of Astyanax. Euripides invokes these Trojan paradigms, however, only to overturn them by saving Andromache's Phthian son from the fate of his Trojan counterpart. While the death of Astyanax definitively marked the extinction of Priam's family, Thetis promises Peleus that his descendants will flourish for generations. In Iphigenia among th e Taurians the dramatist again generates suspense by threatening his protagonists with a repetition of their grim past. In nearly sacrificing her brother to Artemis, Iphigenia mimics her own sacrifice at the hands of Agamemnon, which she herself has recounted in the prologue. But instead of continuing the cycle of kinship murders, the siblings discover one another's identity in an elaborate and joyful scene of recognition, reminiscent of the reunion Orestes previously shared with Electra. Dramatic reenactments thus neatly link the newly extrapolated episode to preceding chapters of the legend. Moreover, by uniting the legends of Orestes and Iphigenia, Euripides fashions this new episode into a comprehensive cathartic resolution to the entire cycle of family conflict, rivaling and superseding the resolution previously offered by Aeschylus' Oresteia. Whereas the Oresteia apparently accepts the tradition that Iphigenia simply died as a sacrifice to Artemis, Euripides' play instead reports that Artemis rescued her from the altar and paradoxically established her as a priestess among the barbarian Taurians, where she must participate in the ritual sacrifice of foreigners (1-41; compare Proclus' summary of the epic Cypria in West 2003). And whereas according to Aeschylus' Eumenides Apollo simply administered purification rites to Orestes at Delphi (40-45 and 578), in Euripides' play Orestes can escape the lingering stain of matricide and the accompanying madness only by delivering the cult statue of Artemis from the Taurians (939-82). The ruse by which the siblings launch their escape, the claim that the matricide and the statue must be purified in the sea (1028-51 and 1153-1233), ironically epitomizes the polluted condition of both hero and goddess and underscores the hitherto incomplete state of both the Orestes and the Iphigenia traditions. Euripides finally perfects their legends Myt by enshrining in Athenian cult Orestes' esc association with human sacrifice (1446-67 The preceding examples of old paradigm general tragic practice of enhancing dra allusions to related events in the broader r employed the device extensively and for v pates the death of Achilles and the captu boundary, and characters in the Odyssey sh journeys home. Such allusions were particu dramatized portions of a larger whole, " several dramas a synopsis of preceding eve ecies of a deus ex machina neatly locate th concerns within the wider mythic contex Athena in the prologue of Euripides' TrA sacrilegious atrocities that accompanied Tr sequent destruction that awaits the Greek thereby invokes the traditional associatio although it offers cold comfort to the pow scenes. Allusions to the past pervade Oedip his true identity entails a comprehensive rea predicting that his birth would result in La with Jocasta. In Oedipus a t Colonus the remain fundamental components of the ag ing abundant verbal debate over these trans at the play's opening when Oedipus tres thereby symbolically retracing his blind a capture of Troy, the abduction of Helen, ai shadows over Agamemnon, but none so p chorus laments the horrific events at Aul tingly replicates the sacrifice in symbolic fc (905-65), Clytemnestra invokes Iphigenia and 1523-29), and she repeats the sacri sacrifice (1384-87 and 1432-33). Einally, a unique form of mythic innova traditions in Prometheus Bound, which Prometheus and lo. It is not unusual for the narrative cycle to which it belongs, p imprisonment cited at Antigone 944-87 a 1301-52, for example), but the mixing uncommonly bold. The logic of the n Prometheus Bound lies in their common metheus' punishment and lo's wandering world, far removed from civilization, and dim view of Zeus' rule. In addition, tht between the two figures: Prometheus' pr cles will prove instrumental in securing Ticha,el J. Anderson y aggressive role in earlier works of which no record >stantial innovation is the insertion of new episodes works. According to early epic fragments, after his dy was buried in a coffin as a mark of dishonor, epic practice of cremation (Little Iliad fr. 3, West this detail into a potentially deadly conflict between >roper burial and ultimately contradicts the epic other dramas that include lengthy verbal disputes at Colonus, and Euripides' Suppliants - are similarly m Such verbal conflict may also be viewed more > the epic motifs of battling over, mutilating, and :h Andromache and Iphigenia among the Taurians is duplicates motifs traditionally associated with these t new plots. In Phthia Andromache essentially relives ickle Hermione now fills the role played formerly by tile Menelaus replaces the menacing Greek army. The :he death of Hector, and the threats to Andromache's ax. Euripides invokes these Trojan paradigms, howiaving Andromache's Phthian son from the fate of his eath of Astyanax definitively marked the extinction of Peleus that his descendants will flourish for generTaurians the dramatist again generates suspense by :h a repetition of their grim past. In nearly sacrificing lia mimics her own sacrifice at the hands of Agamemunted in the prologue. But instead of continuing the blings discover one another's identity in an elaborate reminiscent of the reunion Orestes previously shared nents thus neatly link the newly extrapolated episode end. Moreover, by uniting the legends of Orestes and lis new episode into a comprehensive cathartic resonily conflict, rivaling and superseding the resolution ' Oresteia. Whereas the Oresteia apparently accepts the died as a sacrifice to Artemis, Euripides' play instead :r from the altar and paradoxically established her as a Taurians, where she must participate in the ritual ompare Proclus' summary of the epic Cypria in West to Aeschylus' Eumenides Apollo simply administered Delphi (40-45 and 578), in Euripides' play Orestes of matricide and the accompanying madness only by temis from the Taurians (939-82). The ruse by which :, the claim that the matricide and the statue must be and 1153-1233), ironically epitomizes the polluted idess and underscores the hitherto incomplete state of ;enia traditions. Euripides finally perfects their legends Myth 133 by enshrining in Athenian cult Orestes' escape from the Furies and Artemis' former association with human sacrifice (1446-67). The preceding examples of old paradigms recycled into new plots exemplify the general tragic practice of enhancing dramatizations of individual episodes with allusions to related events in the broader mythic cycle. Homeric epic had previously employed the device extensively and for varying effect: the Iliad ominously antici pates the death of Achilles and the capture of Troy beyond the poem's narrative boundary, and characters in the Odyssey share numerous stories of the war and their journeys home. Such allusions were particularly suitable to works that conventionally dramatized portions of a larger whole, "slices from the banquet of Homer." In several dramas a synopsis of preceding events in the prologue or the closing prophecies of a deus ex machina neatly locate the present action and its principal thematic concerns within the wider mythic context. The exchange between Poseidon and Athena in the prologue of Euripides' Trojan Women simultaneously recalls the sacrilegious atrocities that accompanied Troy's recent capture and predicts the consequent destruction that awaits the Greek fleet after the drama's close. The prologue thereby invokes the traditional association of Troy's fall with divine retribution, although it offers cold comfort to the powerless captives featured in the subsequent scenes. Allusions to the past pervade Oedipus th e King, where the hero's discovery of his true identity entails a comprehensive reassessment of his entire life, from the oracle predicting that his birth would result in Laius' death to his present incestuous union with Jocasta. In Oedipus a t Colonus the incest and patricide committed long ago remain fundamental components of the aging hero's character. In addition to including abundant verbal debate over these transgressions, Sophocles invokes them visually at the play's opening when Oedipus trespasses into the grove of the Eumenides, thereby symbolically retracing his blind and accidental kinship transgressions. The capture of Troy, the abduction of Helen, and the murder of Thyestes' children all cast shadows over Agamemnon, but none so pervasive as the sacrifice of Iphigenia. The chorus laments the horrific events at Aulis in their first song, Agamemnon unwittingly replicates the sacrifice in symbolic form when he tramples the costly tapestries (905-65), Clytemnestra invokes Iphigenia's sacrifice as justification for murder (1432 and 1523-29), and she repeats the sacrilege by staging Agamemnon's death as a sacrifice (1384-87 and 1432-33). Finally, a unique form of mythic innovation in tragedy is the blending of multiple traditions in Prometheus Bound, which fuses the previously independent myths of Prometheus and lo. It is not unusual for a play to contain allusions to myths outside the narrative cycle to which it belongs, particularly in choral odes (the parallels for imprisonment cited at Antigone 944-87 and the account of Demetcr's grief at Helen 1301-52, for example), but the mixing of distinct traditions in a dramatic plot is uncommonly bold. The logic of the novel pairing of Titan and mortal in the Prometheus Round lies in their common status as victims of Zeus' tyranny. Prometheus' punishment and lo's wandering place them both at the extremities of the world, far removed from civilization, and lo's intense suffering confirms Prometheus' dim view of Zeus' rule. In addition, the dramatist discovers a weak narrative link between the two figures: Prometheus' prediction that lo's distant descendant Heracles will prove instrumental in securing his release (771-74, 871-73, and compare 134 Michael J. Anderson Hesiod Theogony 526-34) anticipates the tidy resolution of Prometheus' conflict with Zeus in the companion play, Prometheus Unbound. Not content with combining just two traditions, however, the dramatist incorporates one more innovation, Prometheus' prophecy that some unspecified child of Zeus will overthrow him (75570 and 946-47), presumably an allusion to the offspring of Thetis. According to a myth first clearly attested in Pindar but already indirectly acknowledged in the lUfrA, Zeus and Poseidon pursued the goddess Thetis, but upon learning that she was destined to bear a child greater than its father, the gods forced her to marry a mortal in order to prevent cosmic unrest (Isthmian 8.27-46; compare Metis in Hesiod's Theogony, 886-900). Though not previously associated with Prometheus, this third myth again accords neatly with the dramatic context. The threat of deposition is plausible at this early stage of Zeus' rule, not long after he himself has overthrown his father Cronus. Furthermore, Zeus' fear of begetting a successor may restrain his sexual aggression and could even hinder his pursuit of lo. Prometheus' knowledge of the prophecy thus provides him with considerable leverage in his present struggle. Finally, like the Prometheus tradition, the myths of Thetis explore a complex linkage between the mortal world and the divine. Forced to marry a mortal husband and give birth to a mortal child for the sake of the divine hierarchy, the goddess experiences directly and personally the anguish of mortality. Gods join mortals in celebrating her wedding, but for the bride the ultimate consequences of this celebration are the Trojan War and the death of her beloved son Achilles. Thetis' divided experience thus complements the transgressive roles of both Prometheus, the divine patron who suffers to alleviate the suffering of mankind, and lo's descendant Heracles, the suffering hero who comes closer than any other to crossing the boundary between mortality and divinity. NOTE I thank Justina Gregory and Victor Bers for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this chapter. FURTHER READIN G Graf 1993 provides an excellent introduction to the study of Greek myth, and the contributions in Bremmer 1987 and Edmunds 1990 exemplify various scholarly approaches. For discussion of myths in their cultural context see Buxton 1994; on gender issues in the study of myth see Doherty 2001. Gantz 1993 provides an encyclopedic study of the sources of early Greek myth, for which LIMC and Frazer 1921 are also very useful. West 2003 makes available in English translation the fragments of early Greek epic. In addition, the mythic traditions treated by the tragedians are customarily well documented in the introductions to philological commentaries on individual dramas; for example, Garvie 1986 on Libation Bearers, Sommerstein 1989 on Eumenides, and Cropp 2000 on Iphigenia among the Taurians. On Antigone's failure to marry sec Seaford 1990, and for paradigms of initiation ritual in Sophocles' Pkiloctetes see Vidal-Naquct 1988 tion in Oedipus a t Colonus with attention to explores the relationship between Oedipus am 1997, chs. 7-9, for the treatment of traditions Women, and Andromache. And on the relevance Garner 1990, 40-46.