Loukaki, Argyro Architectonic and Rural Space in Ancient Greek Tragedy: Examples from Aeschylus and Euripides

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa2313-1-6
Title Architectonic and Rural Space in Ancient Greek Tragedy: Examples from Aeschylus and Euripides
Author email aloukaki@eap.gr
About author Loukaki, Argyro — Ph. D., professor, director of the Program “Studies in Greek Civilization”. Hellenic Open University, Aristotelous 18, Patras 263 35, Greece; argyro-loukaki@hotmail.com; ORCID: 0000-0003-0548-8925
In the section Art of the Ancient World DOI10.18688/aa2313-1-6
Year 2023 Volume 13 Pages 65–75
Type of article RAR Index UDK 7.032; 82-21 Index BBK 85.1; 85.333
Abstract

The exploration of the nature of space and of spatial archetypes has been very important in ancient Greek thought and art, including ancient theatre. Focusing on Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound (PB) and Euripides’ Bacchae (B), this paper investigates the aspects of the following archetypes as they emerge in Athenian tragedy:

1. Architectonic space earlier than, as well as contemporary with Euripides, as conceived and represented through his sophisticated architectonic awareness and imagination.

2. The role of mountains, as exemplified through Cithaeron and the Caucasus, theaters of tragic epiphanies of gods Dionysus and Prometheus in B and PB respectively. Both tragedies unfold in the earthly sphere, even if in Prometheus Bound the troupe is divine. However, while Cithaeron lies in the heart of the Greek world forming a natural background to the city of Thebes in Boeotia, the Caucasus lies on its edge. Alluring Dionysus, the master of Cithaeron in Bacchae, represents moral and natural powers that threaten defiant humans, while tormented Prometheus epitomizes divine support for human dignity and wellbeing.

3. An interpretation of the city of Thebes in Boeotia as the locus of many Athenian tragedies.

4. Also, a brief reference to the aesthetic categories of the sublime, the beautiful and the uncanny, as they appear in ancient drama. Philosophical exploration of morality and beauty are reverberated in the vigilant concern with the moral aspect of splendor.
Keywords
Reference Loukaki, Argyro. Architectonic and Rural Space in Ancient Greek Tragedy: Examples from Aeschylus and Euripides. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 13. Eds A. V. Zakharova, S. V. Maltseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova. — Lomonosov Moscow State University / St. Petersburg: NP-Print, 2023, pp. 65–75. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa2313-1-6
Publication Article language english
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