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Aeschylus: Seven Against Thebes
Contributor(s): Torrance, Isabelle (Author)
ISBN: 0715634666     ISBN-13: 9780715634660
Publisher: Bristol Classical Press
OUR PRICE:   $32.95  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: August 2007
* Not available - Not in print at this time *Annotation: One of the earliest surviving Greek tragedies, Seven Against Thebes is an extraordinarily rich poetic text. It dramatises the civil war between the sons of Oedipus ??? Polynices, the exile, and Eteocles, reigning king of Thebes. Polynices marches on Thebes to regain his throne along with six other champion warriors and their armies, but the expedition is doomed, and the meaning of Oedipus??? enigmatic curse on his sons ultimately becomes clear in their simultaneous fratricide and the extinction of the Theban house. This book places the drama in the context of the connected trilogy of which it was a part. It investigates the play??'s tensions between city and family and the omnipresence of curse and ritual in fifth-century Greece. The play??'s focus on the world of male warriors, and its stark opposition of the sexes through the female Chorus, is analysed in terms of warriorideology in epic and Greek understanding of appropriate behavior. Finally, it explores the complex legacy of the play.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Classics
Dewey: FIC
Series: Companions to Greek and Roman Tragedy
Physical Information: 0.52" H x 5.37" W x 8.39" (0.49 lbs) 174 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

Accessible introductions to ancient tragedies. Each volume discusses
the main themes of a play and the central developments in modern
criticism, while also addressing the play's historical context and the
history of its performance and adaptation.

One of our earliest surviving Greek tragedies, Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes
is an extraordinarily rich poetic text. It dramatises the civil war
between the sons of Oedipus ?Polynices, the exile, and Eteocles,
reigning king of Thebes. Polynices marches on Thebes to regain his
throne along with six other champion warriors and their armies, but the
expedition is doomed, and the meaning of Oedipus' enigmatic curse on his
sons ultimately becomes clear through their simultaneous fratricide and
the extinction of the Theban house.

This book places the drama
within the context of the connected trilogy of which it was a part. It
investigates the play's tensions between city and family and the
omnipresence of curse and ritual within the religious and political
environment of fifth century Greece. The drama's focus on the world of
male warriors, and its stark opposition of the sexes through the female
Chorus, is analysed in terms of warrior ideology in epic and Greek
understanding of appropriate behaviour. Finally, it explores the complex
legacy of the play through its influence on Sophocles and Euripides,
and shows how the drama's condemnation of civil war has been exploited
as an analogue for events in modern history.

Contributor Bio(s): Torrance, Isabelle: - Isabelle Torrance is Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Notre Dame, USA. She is the author of Metapoetry in Euripides (2013).