Introduction: how does Greek tragedy matter to us? -- Prologue and parados: Boundaries and transgression -- The place -- First and second episodes: Oracles and liberty -- The idea -- Third, fourth, and fifth episodes: Terror and pity -- The body -- Sixth episode and exodos: Death and transfiguration -- The God -- Epilogue: On the unexplainable.
Summary:
"Greek tragedy is definitely not what you think, and we may never understand it, but this makes it matter all the more to us"-- Provided by publisher. "If Greek tragedies are meant to be so tragic, why do they so often end so well? Here starts the story of a long and incredible misunderstanding. Out of the hundreds of tragedies that were performed, only 32 were preserved in full. Who chose them and why? Why are the lost ones never taken into account? This extremely unusual scholarly book tells us an Umberto Eco-like story about the lost tragedies. By arguing that they would have given a radically different picture, William Marx makes us think in completely new ways about one of the major achievements of Western culture. In this very readable, stimulating, lively, and even sometimes funny book, he explores parallels with Japanese theatre, resolves the enigma of catharsis, sheds a new light on psychoanalysis. In so doing, he tells also the story of the misreadings of our modernity, which disconnected art from the body, the place, and gods. Two centuries ago philosophers transformed Greek tragedies into an ideal archetype, now they want to read them as self-help handbooks, but all are equally wrong: Greek tragedy is definitely not what you think, and we may never understand it, but this makes it matter all the more to us." -- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.