”Insularity and Being an islander in Ancient Greek Theatrical literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37130/2jgq7f87Keywords:
island, insularity, ancient Greek drama, desire, isolation, utopia, othernessAbstract
This article analyses the ways in which the theme of “insularity” is portrayed in ancient Greek drama and the meaning that is given to the attribute of being an islander in these theatrical works. The overview starts from a more general approach of Greek literature, from the example of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, and the modern poem of Ithaka, by K.P. Kavafis, then delves into the works of Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. The theme of “insularity” is present, in the analyzed works, in various opposing ways. In some cases, as a form of isolation from society, going as far as to be considered a form of imprisonment, as is the case with the play The Trojan Women by Euripides or, at the other end of the spectrum, a safe haven in The Birds by Aristophanes. The characteristic of being an islander and the theme of “insularity” are not limited to the island location of the play’s action. They can appear in other geographical locations like the peninsula, or more abstract places like Hades and the “island in the sky”, all of them being characterized by common defining elements.
References
Adriaensen, J. (2017) The Cultural Significance of Small Greek Islands in the Classical Period. (PhD thesis, University of Leicester).
Aristophanes (1998) Archanians. Knights. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press.
Aristophanes (2017) Birds. A Dual Language Collection. Edited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Translator: Ian Johnston. Faenum Publishing.
Aristophanes (2017) Frogs and Other Plays. Translator and editor: Steven Halliwell. UK: Oxford Worls’s Classics.
Aristophanes (2022) Four Plays: Clouds, Birds, Lysistrata, Women of the Assembly. Transla- tor: Aaron Poochigian. NY: Liveright.
Blome, A. (2019) Island Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Identities in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. (PhD thesis, University of Warwick).
Clark, M (2012) Exploring Greek Myth. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
de Jong, I.J. (2012) “The Island Motif in Greek Tragedy”. The Cambridge Classical Journal, 58, pp. 91-112
Dickenson, C. (2019) “The Island in Ancient Greek Literature: A View from Above”. Classical Journal, 115(3), pp. 259-277.
Dijkstra, E. (2016) The Island Theme in Early Greek Epic: An Interdisciplinary Approach. (PhD thesis, University of Groningen).
Euripides (1963) Medea and Other Plays. Translator, introduction: Philip Vellacott. NY: Penguin Classics.
Euripides (1995) Cyclops, Alcestis, Medea. Translator, editor: David Kovacs. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press.
Euripides (1999) The Trojan Women. Edited and translated by David Kovacs. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press.
Euripides (1999) Trojan Women, Iphigenia among Taurians, Ion. Edited and translated by David Kovacs. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press.
Euripides (2003) Bacchae, Iphigenia at Aulis, Rhesus. Edited and translated by David Kovacs. Loeb Classical Library. LOEB.
Euripides (2006) The Bacchae and Other Plays. Translator, introduction: John Davie, Richard Rutherford. NY: Penguin Classics.
Euripides (2008) Helen. Edited by William Allan. Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics. Cambridge University Press.
Foley, H.P. (2010) Reimagining Greek Tragedy on the American Stage. University of California Press.
Goldhill, S. (2010) How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today. University of Chicago Press. Green, J.R. (2013) Theatre in Ancient Greek Society. UK: Routledge.
Hall, E. (1991) Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy. Oxford University Press.
Hall, E. (1997) The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey. I.B. Tauris. Hardwick, L. (2014) “Reception Studies”. In E. Bakker & I.J.F. De Jong (Eds.), A Companion to Greek Literature (pp. 444-457). John Wiley & Sons.
Heiden, B. (2007) “Insularity in Greek Tragedy”. In A. Rengakos & A. Tsakmakis (Eds.), Brill’s Companion to Hellenistic Epigram: Down to Philip, pp. 179-203.
Homer (2006) The Odyssey. Translator: Robert Fagles, Editor: Bernard Knox. NY: Penguin Classics.
Kavafis, K.P. (2016) Poems (Greek edition). US: CreateSpace Independent Publishing. Kanavou, N. (2012) The Topography of Insularity in Greek Tragedy. (PhD thesis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens).
Konstantinou, I. (2014) Τhe Ιmage of Ιslands Ιn Αncient Τheatre. (PhD thesis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).
Lape, S.E. (2007) “Becoming a Kephale: Local Identity, Interregional Interaction, and Institutionalization in the Cyclades”. American Journal of Archaeology, 111(4), pp. 563-580.
Lefkowitz, M. and Romm, J. (editors) (2017) The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Featuring translations by Emily Wilson, Frank Nisetich, Sarah Ruden, Rachel Kitzinger, Mary Lefkowitz, and James Romm. NY: Modern Library Classics.
Long, J. (2013) “Islands in the Stream: The Seafaring Worlds of Ancient Greece”. Ancient History Encyclopedia.
Ormand, K. (2010) Performing Greek Tragedy Today. University of Exeter Press.
Panayotou, A. (2011) Insularity in Greek Tragedy: Structure, Setting, and Thematic Implications. (PhD thesis, University of Ioannina).
Pelling, C. (1997) Greek Tragedy and the Historian. Oxford University Press.
Plato (2003) The Symposium. Editor, translator, introduction: Christopher Gill. NY: Penguin Classics.
Plato (2022) The Republic. Introduction: Odisseus Makridis. Chartwell Classics. NY: Chartwell Books.
Rabinovitz, N.S. (2008) Greek Tragedy. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Raeburn, D. (2016) Greek Tragedies as Plays for Performance. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Scodel, R. (2010) An Introduction to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge University Press.
Segal, C. (1986) Tragedy and Civilization: An Interpretation of Sophocles. Harvard University Press.
Silk, M. (1996) Aristophanes and the Definition of Comedy. Oxford University Press.
Sophocles (1970) Philoctetes. (Greek edition) Editor: T.B.L. Webster. Cambridge University Press.
Sophocles (2000) The Three Theban Plays: Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus. Translator: Robert Fagles, Editor: Bernard Knox. NY: Penguin Classics.
Vickers, B. (2009) Greek Drama and the Invention of Rhetoric. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Virgil (2008) The Aeneid. Translator: Robert Fagles, Introduction: Bernard Knox. Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. NY: Penguin Classics.
Zeitlin, F.I. (1990) Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature. University of Chicago Press.
Μarkantonatos, A. (editor) (2020) Brill’s Companion to Euripides, Vol. 1, Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Hart, M.L. (2020) “Text and Image. Euripides and Iconopraphy”, chapter 29 from Brill’s Companion to Euripides, Leiden/Boston: Brill, pp. 663-697. Available at: https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004435353/BP000034.xml (Accessed 4 October 2024).
