Pollution and Crisis in Greek Tragedy

Fabian Meinel

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781107044463
• eBook ISBN:
  9781316236383
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Pollution is ubiquitous in Greek tragedy: matricidal Orestes seeks purification at Apollo's shrine in Delphi; carrion from Polyneices' unburied corpse fills the altars of Thebes; delirious Phaedra suffers from a 'pollution of the mind'. This book undertakes the first detailed analysis of the important role which pollution and its counterparts - purity and purification - play in tragedy. It argues that pollution is central in the negotiation of tragic crises, fulfilling a diverse array of functions by virtue of its qualities and associations, from making sense of adversity to configuring civic identity in the encounter of self and other. While primarily a literary study providing close readings of several key plays, the book also provides important new perspectives on pollution. It will appeal to a broad range of scholars and students not only in classics and literary studies, but also in the study of religions and anthropology.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface and acknowledgements
• Note on the text and translations
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Pollution, interpretation and understanding
• 2 Pollution and the stability of civic space
• 3 Evaluation and stability in Aeschylus’ Oresteia
• Excursus: rereading the Oresteia: Euripides’ Iphigenia among the Taurians
• 4 Pollution, purity and civic identity
• Envoi
• Bibliography
• Index locorum
• General index