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Pollution and Crisis in Greek Tragedy
About This Book
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.
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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 Aeschylusâ Oresteia
- Excursus: rereading the Oresteia: Euripidesâ Iphigenia among the Taurians
- 4 Pollution, purity and civic identity
- Envoi
- Bibliography
- Index locorum
- General index