Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art

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.

1119944712
Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art

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.

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Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art

Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art

Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art

Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art

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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: 9780691215082
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 06/30/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 376
File size: 12 MB
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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

Prefaceix
Abbreviationsxi
Introduction3
Part IMythic Representations
1Medea, the Enchantress from Afar: Remarks on a Well-Known Myth21
2Corinthian Medea and the Cult of Hera Akraia44
3Medea as Foundation-Heroine71
4Why Did Medea Kill Her Brother Apsyrtus?83
Part IILiterary Portraits
5Medea as Muse: Pindar's Pythian 4103
6Becoming Medea: Assimilation in Euripides127
7Conquest of the Mephistophelian Nausicaa: Medea's Role in Apollonius' Redefinition of the Epic Hero149
8The Metamorphosis of Ovid's Medea178
Part IIIUnder Philosophical Investigation
9Medea among the Philosophers211
10Serpents in the Soul: A Reading of Seneca's Medea219
Part IVBeyond the Euripidean Stage
11Medea at a Shifting Distance: Images and Euripidean Tragedy253
12Medea as Politician and Diva: Riding the Dragon into the Future297
Bibliography325
List of Contributors351
Index Locorum353
General Index369

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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.

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