The Voice of the Shuttle: The Tereus Myth in Aristophanes’ Birds
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Stephanie A. Nelson
Stephanie A. Nelson is Professor in the Department of Classical Studies and in the Core Curriculum at Boston University. She teaches widely in Greek and Latin literature and the Classical tradition and has written on subjects from Plato and aesthetic theory to translation and literary reception. She is the author of monographs on Hesiod and Aristophanes as well asTime and Identity in Ulysses and the Odyssey , published by the University Press of Florida. Amid other projects she is currently working on an edited volume for Brill entitledTime and Measure .
Abstract
Building on an analysis of Sophocles’ Tereus, this chapter reassesses the reception of this work in Aristophanes’ Birds, emphasising the importance of this tragic association in the economy of the play. By looking at the relation between Aristophanes’ play and its ambience, sensorially, temporally and politically, the author uncovers a subtle network of references to Sophocles’ dark tale, casting a shadow even on the more cheerful passages of the play. This approach allows us to move beyond traditional interpretations that see the Birds as either non-political or simply a political statement, whether pro- or anti-Sicilian Expedition. The emphasis here is on the theme of predation that pervades the aural and visual references to the Tereus myth, both in the traditional connection between rape and political overthrow and in the comedy’s unusual take on sexuality.
Abstract
Building on an analysis of Sophocles’ Tereus, this chapter reassesses the reception of this work in Aristophanes’ Birds, emphasising the importance of this tragic association in the economy of the play. By looking at the relation between Aristophanes’ play and its ambience, sensorially, temporally and politically, the author uncovers a subtle network of references to Sophocles’ dark tale, casting a shadow even on the more cheerful passages of the play. This approach allows us to move beyond traditional interpretations that see the Birds as either non-political or simply a political statement, whether pro- or anti-Sicilian Expedition. The emphasis here is on the theme of predation that pervades the aural and visual references to the Tereus myth, both in the traditional connection between rape and political overthrow and in the comedy’s unusual take on sexuality.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword VII
- Contents IX
- Introduction 1
- (Re)assembling the Tereus Myth: Vase Painting, Memory, and the Senses 15
- Lamenting about the Wrong Crime: Homer, Sophocles and Demonising the Other 41
- Hunting Tereus: Rubens, Shakespeare, Sophocles 61
- Passion, Knowledge and Truth: Second Thoughts on Sophocles’ Tereus 77
- ζηλοτυπ[ίᾳ ......] οἰστρηθεισ̃ α: Domestic Violence and Revenge in Sophocles’ Tereus 95
- Tereus’ Illicit Penetration(s): A New Reading of Fragment 581 R 115
- The Voice of the Shuttle: The Tereus Myth in Aristophanes’ Birds 131
- Tereus in the Fifth and Fourth Century: From Paratragedy to Mythic Burlesque 153
- The Tereus Myth in Roman Republican Drama 179
- “(In)Human, All Too (In)Human”: Ovid’s Tereus and the Vulnerable Body 191
- Postface 205
- Methodological Appendix: The Orchid and the Wasp — Reading Fragments with Assemblage Theory 223
- List of Contributors 241
- General Index
- Index of Sources
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword VII
- Contents IX
- Introduction 1
- (Re)assembling the Tereus Myth: Vase Painting, Memory, and the Senses 15
- Lamenting about the Wrong Crime: Homer, Sophocles and Demonising the Other 41
- Hunting Tereus: Rubens, Shakespeare, Sophocles 61
- Passion, Knowledge and Truth: Second Thoughts on Sophocles’ Tereus 77
- ζηλοτυπ[ίᾳ ......] οἰστρηθεισ̃ α: Domestic Violence and Revenge in Sophocles’ Tereus 95
- Tereus’ Illicit Penetration(s): A New Reading of Fragment 581 R 115
- The Voice of the Shuttle: The Tereus Myth in Aristophanes’ Birds 131
- Tereus in the Fifth and Fourth Century: From Paratragedy to Mythic Burlesque 153
- The Tereus Myth in Roman Republican Drama 179
- “(In)Human, All Too (In)Human”: Ovid’s Tereus and the Vulnerable Body 191
- Postface 205
- Methodological Appendix: The Orchid and the Wasp — Reading Fragments with Assemblage Theory 223
- List of Contributors 241
- General Index
- Index of Sources
