Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art / Edition 1

by James J. Clauss, Sarah Iles Johnston

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691043760
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/12/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	7.75(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

James J. Clauss is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Washington and is the author of The Best of the Argonauts. Sarah Iles Johnston is Associate Professor of Classics at The Ohio State University and is the author of Hekate Soteira.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Abbreviations	xi
	Introduction	3
Part I	Mythic Representations
1	Medea, the Enchantress from Afar: Remarks on a Well-Known Myth	21
2	Corinthian Medea and the Cult of Hera Akraia	44
3	Medea as Foundation-Heroine	71
4	Why Did Medea Kill Her Brother Apsyrtus?	83
Part II	Literary Portraits
5	Medea as Muse: Pindar's Pythian 4	103
6	Becoming Medea: Assimilation in Euripides	127
7	Conquest of the Mephistophelian Nausicaa: Medea's Role in Apollonius' Redefinition of the Epic Hero	149
8	The Metamorphosis of Ovid's Medea	178
Part III	Under Philosophical Investigation
9	Medea among the Philosophers	211
10	Serpents in the Soul: A Reading of Seneca's Medea	219
Part IV	Beyond the Euripidean Stage
11	Medea at a Shifting Distance: Images and Euripidean Tragedy	253
12	Medea as Politician and Diva: Riding the Dragon into the Future	297
	Bibliography	325
	List of Contributors	351
	Index Locorum	353
	General Index	369

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Medea is a model of how one goes about configuring and interpreting any of our long-lasting inheritances from Greek myth.... The richness of its subject should make this book appeal to a wide audience."—Richard P. Martin

Richard P. Martin

Medea is a model of how one goes about configuring and interpreting any of our long-lasting inheritances from Greek myth.... The richness of its subject should make this book appeal to a wide audience.

Editorial Reviews

"Medea is a model of how one goes about configuring and interpreting any of our long-lasting inheritances from Greek myth.... The richness of its subject should make this book appeal to a wide audience."—Richard P. Martin

From the Publisher