Adventures with Iphigenia in Tauris: A Cultural History of Euripides' Black Sea TragedyHuman sacrifice, a spirited heroine, a quest ending in a hairsbreadth escape, the touching reunion of long-lost siblings, and exquisite poetry—these features have historically made Euripides' Iphigenia in Tauris one of the most influential of Greek tragedies. Yet, despite its influence and popularity in the ancient world, the play remains curiously under-investigated in both mainstream cultural studies and more specialized scholarship. With Adventures with Iphigenia in Tauris, Edith Hall provides a much-needed cultural history of this play, giving as much weight to the impact of the play on subsequent Greek and Roman art and literature as on its manifestations since the discovery of the sole surviving medieval manuscript in the 1500s. The book argues that the reception of the play is bound up with its spectacular setting on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula in what is now the Ukraine, a territory where world history has often been made. However, it also shows that the play's tragicomic tenor and escape plot have had a tangible influence on popular culture, from romantic fiction to Hollywood action films. The thirteen chapters illustrate how reactions to the play have evolved from the ancient admiration of Aristotle and Ovid, the Christian responses of Milton and Catherine the Great, the anthropological ritualists and theatrical Modernists including James Frazer and Isadora Duncan, to recent feminist and postcolonial dramatists from Mexico to Australia. Individual chapters are devoted to the most significant adaptations of the tragedy, Gluck's opera Iphigénie en Tauride and Goethe's verse drama Iphigenie auf Tauris. Richly illustrated and accessibly written, with all texts translated into English, Adventures with Iphigenia in Tauris argues elegantly for a reappraisal of this Euripidean masterpiece. |
Contents
I Rediscovering Tauris | 1 |
II Iphigenia Quest Heroine | 27 |
III Travel Tragedy | 47 |
The Fourthcentury Popularity of Iphigenia in Tauris | 69 |
V Orestes Pylades and Roman Men | 92 |
VI Iphigenias Imperial Escapades | 111 |
VII Escorts of Artemis | 135 |
VIII The Christian Conversion of Iphigenia | 158 |
X Goethes Iphigenie Between Germany and the World | 206 |
XI Rites of Modernism | 231 |
XII Womens Adventures with Iphigenia | 256 |
XIII Decolonizing Thoas | 274 |
CONCLUSION | 297 |
ABBREVIATIONS | 303 |
305 | |
331 | |
Common terms and phrases
adventures ancient Greek antiquity Apollo Aristotle Athenian Athens audience Aulis barbarian Black Sea Brauron brother burlesque Catherine century bce chapter Charition chorus Christian classical costumes Crimea cult image cult of Artemis cultural dance death Delos Diana drama emotional escape Euripidean Euripides example exile famous female figure German Gluck’s Iphigénie goddess Goethe Goethe’s Iphigenie Greece Greek tragedy Halai Hall hero heroine human sacrifice Ifigenia important Iphigenia and Orestes Iphigenia in Tauris Iphigénie en Tauride Isadora Duncan Italy king LIMC Iphigeneia myth named narrative ofArtemis ofIphigenia ofIT ofthe opera Orestes Orestes and Pylades Ovid’s Oxyrhynchus Pacuvius painting performance play play’s plot poem poet priestess production psychological Pylades Reproduced courtesy Reyes rites ritual role Roman Rucellai Russian sanctuary sarcophagus scene scholars Scythian sister stage statue of Artemis story Taurians Tauric Chersonesos theatre theatrical Thoas Toxaris Trader Horn tragic translation vase woman women