Myths and Tragedies in their Ancient Greek Contexts

293 Pages·2013·2.06 MB·English

by  Richard Buxton

MYTHS AND TRAGEDIES IN THEIR
ANCIENT GREEK CONTEXTS
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Myths and Tragedies
in their Ancient
Greek Contexts
RICHARD BUXTON
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP,
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For Mercedes
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Preface
The various intellectual and personal debts which I incurred while
writingtheoriginalversionsoftheseessaysareregisteredchapterby
chapter, usually in a concluding footnote. Here it is a pleasure to
expressgratitudeonamorecomprehensivescale.
The academic context within which I have worked during the
whole of the relevant period has been the Department of Classics
and Ancient History (formerly the Department of Classics and
Archaeology)attheUniversityofBristol.Mycolleagues,andsucces-
sive cohorts of postgraduate and undergraduate students at Bristol,
havetaughtmemorethanIcanputintowords.Beyondthatprimary
location, I am fortunate to have come to know many of the world’s
leading experts in the literature and mythology of ancient Greece.
Their influence pervades the present book, and a list of their names
couldgoonforpages.InsteadIsingleouttwoonly.JanBremmerand
PatEasterlinghaveselflesslycommentedonthewholeofthisbookin
draft,savingmefrommanyerrors,pointingmetowardsbibliography
which I had overlooked, and encouraging me at every turn. I could
wishfornomorethanthatthepresentbookshouldmerittherespect
ofthesetwooutstandingscholars.
Threemoreexpressionsofgratitudeareinorder.Thefirstisjointly
tomyOUPeditorHilaryO’Shea,forherforbearanceandconsistently
shrewd advice, and to the Press’s eagle-eyed copy-editor Richard
Mason,whosaved mefrom many anembarrassment. The secondis
to Lisa Agate who, with superlative efficiency, chased up the images
which I wanted to reproduce in this book and secured the permis-
sions to reproduce them. The third is to Mercedes Aguirre, with
whom I have talked over countless aspects of myth, tragedy, and
muchelse,tomyconstantprofitanddelight.
RGAB
Autumn2012
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Contents
ListofIllustrations x
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
PART I: THEMES IN MYTH
1. ImaginaryGreekMountains 9
2. WolvesandWerewolvesinGreekThought 33
3. MythologicalNames:TheCaseofmelas 53
4. TheMythofTalos:Vulnerability,ichōr,and
Boundary-Crossing 73
5. MovementandStillness:VersionsofMedea 99
PART II: MYTHS IN TRAGEDY
6. TragedyandGreekMyth 121
7. Time,Space,andIdeology:TragicMythsandthe
AthenianPolis 145
8. BafflementinGreekTragedy 161
9. BlindnessandLimits:SophoklesandtheLogicofMyth 173
10. Euripides’Alkestis:FiveAspectsofanInterpretation 201
11. FeminizedMalesinBakchai:TheImportanceof
Discrimination 219
Envoi 241
DetailsofOriginalPublication 243
Bibliography 245
Index 269