Gender and the City in Euripides' Political Plays

by Daniel Mendelsohn

Overview

The first full-length study of Children of Herakles and Suppliant Women to appear in fifty years, Gender and the City in Euripides' Political Plays uses fresh insights into the Greek conception of gender and the Athenian ideology of civic identity to demonstrate at last the formal elegance and intellectual complexity of two works that are still dismissed as artistic failures within the poet's oeuvre.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199278046
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/03/2005
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Daniel Mendelsohn, a writer and critic living in New York, is a Lecturer in the Department of Classics at Princeton University. He is the recipient of the 2002 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Date of Birth:

April 16, 1960

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A., Classics, University of Virginia, 1982; M.A., Classics, Princeton University, 1989; Ph.D., 1994

Website:

http://www.danielmendelsohn.com

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Gender, Politics, Interpretation
2. Children of Herakles: Territories of the Other
3. Suppliant Women: Regulations of the Feminine
4. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"[A] detailed, profound, and revealing analysis of the two 'political' plays.... These few examples are all that can be cited here of the strength of the evidence he cites to support his theses and the precision of his critical language; to appreciate the full effect, the reader must go to the book. Suffice it to say that in his sensitive analysis of these and other aspects of the two plays' structure and content he has rescued them from the critical limbo to which so many scholars had consigned them.... The somewhat abstract psychological analysis Mendelsohn proposes here may sound complex but it emerges convincingly from a close reading of the plays.... This review of his book, though selective and inadequate, is enough to establish the fact that his attempt is a brilliant success."—Bernard Knox, The New York Review of Books

"Mendelsohn provides a masterful and compelling rereading of both plays and in the process not only challenges standard assessments of their value but also demonstrates the centrality of gender for structuring their political debates.... While Mendelsohn's overarching argument...ultimately persuades, his ability to bring to the surface some of the profound similarities between the two play is truly compelling."—Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This is a highly rewarding book on the interplay between Athenian ideas of politics and of the feminine, as worked out in Euripides' Children of Herakles and Suppliant Women.... A persuasive examination not only of the chosen plays but also of the kind of demanding political thinking that tragedy could do."—American Journal of Philology

"This first-rate display of contemporary classical scholarship is yet another facet revealed of an extraordinarily versatile man.... This book is a model for those who would write seriously about classics and have the courage to wish to be understood.... I would recommend this book especially to readers new to the subject of the interpretation of ancient Athenian drama who are willing to take on the challenge of reading complex prose that, with close application to it, yields up its meanings."—Charles Rowan Beye, Greekworks.com

"[A]n engaging study that successfully reappraises two largely and unfairly disparaged dramas.... The argument is subtle and complex.... M[endelsohn]'s demonstration of the influence of the Eleusinian setting of Supp. throughout its course is revelatory."—The Classical Review

"Daniel Mendelsohn offers a valuable close reading of Euripides' Children of Heracles and Suppliant Women.... Mendelsohn's study allows the reader to interpret the plays anew in their political and ideological context...and convincingly argues for their greater coherence and complexity."—New England Classical Journal

"With a wealth of detailed analysis... [Mendelsohn's] readings are consistently sensitive to the complexity of both politics and gender in Euripidean drama."—Choice

From the Publisher