Euripidean Polemic: The Trojan Women and the Function of Tragedy

Description

The book offers an interpretation of Euripides' The Trojan Women which issues from the argument that the function of Greek tragedy was to educate. The author demonstrates that the play performs its function by examining Athenian ideology. By making the didactic function of tragedy the basis of interpretation, he is able to offer a coherent view of a number of longstanding problems in Euripidean criticism, for instance, the relation of Euripides to the Sophists.

"...a learned and far-ranging book...[a] wealth of useful material...[a] truly impressive range of issues..." Classical Views "An extensive bibliography, general index, and index of passages cited complete this careful and thoughtful study. Recommended for undergraduate and graduate libraries." Religious Studies Review "It shows on every page the influence of the work of scholars like Loraux, Vernant and Zeitlin, but unlike many studies that share this pedigree, it is lucidly written and free of irritating jargon. Indeed, it can be safely recommended to those classicists who are somehow uneasily aware that naive positivism has died, but who are too embarassed to ask what has taken its place." Bryn Mawr Classical Review