Medea

by Clauss, James Joseph; Johnston, Sarah Iles

• ISBN13: 9780691043760
• ISBN10: 0691043760
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-12-23
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

From the dawn of European literature, the figure of Medea--best known as the helpmate of Jason and murderer of her own children--has inspired artists in all fields throughout all centuries. Euripides, Seneca, Corneille, Delacroix, Anouilh, Pasolini, Maria Callas, Martha Graham, Samuel Barber, and Diana Rigg are among the many who have given Medea life on stage, film, and canvas, through music and dance, from ancient Greek drama to Broadway. In seeking to understand the powerful hold Medea has had on our imaginations for nearly three millennia, a group of renowned scholars here examines the major representations of Medea in myth, art, and ancient and contemporary literature, as well as the philosophical, psychological, and cultural questions these portrayals raise. The result is a comprehensive and nuanced look at one of the most captivating mythic figures of all time. Unlike most mythic figures, whose attributes remain constant throughout mythology, Medea is continually changing in the wide variety of stories that circulated during antiquity. She appears as enchantress, helper-maiden, infanticide, fratricide, kidnapper, founder of cities, and foreigner. Not only does Medea's checkered career illuminate the opposing concepts of self and other, it also suggests the disturbing possibility of otherness within self. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Fritz Graf, Nita Krevans, Jan Bremmer, Dolores M. O'Higgins, Deborah Boedeker, Carole E. Newlands, John M. Dillon, Martha C. Nussbaum, Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, and Marianne McDonald.

Author Biography

James J. Clauss is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Washington. Sarah Iles Johnston is Associate Professor of Classics at The Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
James J. Clauss
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	3	(18)
Sarah Iles Johnston
PART I: MYTHIC REPRESENTATIONS
Medea, the Enchantress from Afar: Remarks on a Well-Known Myth	21	(23)
Fritz Graf
Corinthian Medea and the Cult of Hera Akraia	44	(27)
Sarah Iles Johnston
Medea as Foundation-Heroine	71	(12)
Nita Krevans
Why Did Medea Kill Her Brother Apsyrtus?	83	(20)
Jan N. Bremmer
PART II: LITERARY PORTRAITS
Medea as Muse: Pindar's Pythian 4	103	(24)
Dolores M. O'Higgins
Becoming Medea: Assimilation in Euripides	127	(22)
Deborah Boedeker
Conquest of the Mephistophelian Nausicaa: Medea's Role in Appollonius' Redefinition of the Epic Hero	149	(29)
James J. Clauss
The Metamorphosis of Ovid's Medea	178	(33)
Carole E. Newlands
PART III: UNDER PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATION
Medea among the Philosophers	211	(8)
John M. Dillon
Serpents in the Soul: A Reading of Seneca's Medea	219	(34)
Martha C. Nussbaum
PART IV: BEYOND THE EURIPIDEAN STAGE
Medea at a Shifting Distance: Images and Euripidean Tragedy	253	(44)
Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood
Medea as Politician and Diva: Riding the Dragon into the Future	297	(28)
Marianne McDonald
Bibliography	325	(26)
List of Contributors	351	(2)
Index Locorum	353	(16)
General Index	369