Torrance Aeschylus, Euripides and Politics

IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF AESCHYLUS: RECOGNITION, ALLUSION, AND METAPOETICS IN
EURIPIDES
Author(s): Isabelle Torrance
Source: The American Journal of Philology , SUMMER 2011, Vol. 132, No. 2 (SUMMER
2011), pp. 177-204
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41237464
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AMERICAN
JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY
IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF AESCHYLUS:

RECOGNITION, ALLUSION, AND
METAPOETICS IN EURIPIDES
Isabelle Torrance
<^^
Abstract. It is well known that Euripides res

his plays, most notably in Electra. In this arti
recognition scene in Euripides' Electra, compa
in Iphigenia among the Taurians, which allud
I argue that through their allusions to Aesch
metapoetic reflections on the constraints and
tion. The issue, therefore, is not one of critic
Homer), as scholars have generally held. Rath
his audience with an invitation to recognize
lenges of composing a dramatic performance,
metapoetic suggestions. The poetic self-consc
underlines the poet's awareness that he is foll
poetic predecessors.
EURIPIDES AND THE ORESTEIA
Of the surviving Euripidean tragedies, four are related to the

subject matter of Aeschylus' Oresteia and respond to it in significant
ways: Electra, Iphigenia among the Taurians, Orestes, Iphigenia in Aulis.
It seems probable, if not certain, that Euripides saw the Oresteia per-
formed in 458 B.C.E. as a young man, and probable also that he attended
re-performances of the trilogy after Aeschylus' death in 456 B.C.E.1 In
1 Most scholars assume that the Oresteia was re-performed in the 420s; see Newiger
1961,427-30, and see also Revermann 2006, 66-87, on re-performance culture in fifth-century
American Journal of Philology 132 (201 1) 177-204 © 201 1 by The Johns Hopkins University Press

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178 ISABELLE TORRANCE
Electra Euripides presents his boldest allu

his most controversial. The recognition
tion Bearers are famously evoked only to
scholars sought to excise the allusions as i
the scene is genuine.2 It also fits into a b
the Oresteia at other important junctur
Euripides' other Atreid plays. There rema
as to the function of such allusions. For s
Aristophanic caricature in Frogs, Euripid
and attempting to present himself as the su
poet.3 For others, Euripides is paying ho
In this article I argue that Euripides' eng
deeper dramatic function in provoking reco
as a sophisticated poetic composition. W
was suggestive in this context when he
to Aeschylus as "not malice so much as a
If Aeschylus was fair game, so too were
Winnington-Ingram, however, the issue rem
at the expense of the archaic technique o
which, as I argue, does not give enough c
complexities of Euripidean drama.
Athens. Biles 2007 has recently challenged the not

performed posthumously at the City Dionysia, altho
a general culture of re-performance in fifth-centu
Dionysia may have had a role in "keeping Aeschyl
2Fraenkel 1950, vol. Ill, 815-26, revived the argum
Electra were interpolated. Bain 1977, West 1980, B
raised objections to the authenticity of specific passag
Bond 1974, Davies 1998, and Gallagher 2003, howeve
is not interpolated and is dramatically relevant, even
a reference to the recognition scene of Euripides' E
further weight to arguments for authenticity. Since th
dramatic arguments, the reader is referred to the w
3 Euripidean allusions to Aeschylus are often refe
connotations of criticism (e.g., Bond 1974, Hammond
the complexity of parody and shows that it is more t
and Dentith 2000, 17-19, who discusses how parody a
direct its polemic against the parodied text.
4E.g., Wolff 1992, 329, and cf. Collard 1975, on S

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IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF AESCHYLUS 179
REJECTING RECOGNITION,
REJECTING CONVENTION: ELECTRA
The crux of the enigma in Electra's rationalizations of Aeschy

ognition tokens is that her arguments are problematic in sever
and events show that she is mistaken. Although she rejects th
lock of hair and the footprint at Agamemnon's tomb do turn
indicate Orestes' return. What, then, is Euripides doing? If he is
ing Aeschylus' tokens as unrealistic, why does his own character
problematic arguments with erroneous conclusions? If he is tr
present a new and better way of producing a recognition scene, the
does he revert to an even older recognition trope - the Odysse
If he is parodying Aeschylus, then why are Aeschylus' tokens ul
validated? I suggest that if we read the scene as a metapoetic co
tary that is a self-conscious invitation to reflect on the conven
dramatic production, these questions are no longer important. It
much Aeschylus who is a target of parody; rather, it is poetic conv
which is brought under scrutiny.
Electra has a complex role in the recognition sequence but she s
incapable of interpreting the signs in accordance with poetic con
Not only does she refuse to acknowledge the potential significan
lock of hair and footprint, she also fails to notice Orestes' scar
she had been present during the fall that caused it.5 On a Sau
semiological reading, Electra's inability to interpret such signs
her in some ways socially dysfunctional in nature. Not only is
functional as a woman and wife, living in an unconsummated m
she is also incapable of functioning effectively within the micr
the tragic recognition scene.7 During the recognition sequence,
ironically unable to recognize dramatic conventions. Similarly, a
murder of Aegisthus, Electra laments that there are no messe
precisely the moment when tragic convention calls for a messe
5On the issue of Electra's failure to interpret signs, see also Gallagher 20
AQil-A. Gellie 1981, 4, summarizes several ways in which Electra "tends to get thin
e.g., she initially thinks Orestes and Pylades are thieves; she interprets the victory
Aegisthus' murder as a cry of defeat; she fails to recognize Clytemnestra's arrivi
For Gellie, these errors are part of Electra's self-delusion.
6On Electra's problematic social status, see Zeitlin 2003a.
7Cf. Goldhill 1986, 84-85, who has linked the sociological importance of reco
signs and relationships to the prominence of recognition-driven plots in Greek tr

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759). When the messenger appears forth

recognize dramatic convention is once ag
Electra's semiological ineptitude durin
linked to the flawed logic she puts forw
ognition tokens. When asked to compare
the lock left at the tomb (520-21), Electr
imagine brave Orestes coming back in
her hair is combed and feminine and so cannot be like her brother's
(537-38). There are obvious problems with her arguments. If Orestes is
an exile with a bounty on his head (33), how else should he come back
with any chance of success except by stealth (as he does in all versions
of this episode)? Secondly, how can Electra now claim to have feminine
combed hair when she has previously complained about her hair being
filthy (184) and cropped (148, cf. 108)? The incongruity between Electra's
claim about her hair and her actual appearance would have been all the
more apparent to a theatre audience.8 Indeed, the audience has seen
Orestes and his hair and would be in a position to judge whether or not
his hair would resemble his sister's.9
Later in the scene, the Old Man asks Electra if there is a piece
of weaving which she might recognize, a weaving, he says, in which he
spirited Orestes away from death (EL 540). The Old Man's question is
strange. If he is the one who saved Orestes, why is he unaware that there
was no piece of weaving as Electra emphatically explains? The reference
to a piece of weaving is so obviously contrived that it stands in itself as
a metaphor for this scene's intertextuality with Aeschylus. In Aeschylus,
Electra's handiwork seems to be a feature of Orestes' clothing (LB
231-32). In Euripides, Electra not only denies her ability to weave at the
time Orestes left, she also ridicules the idea that a grown man would be
wearing the same clothes he had as an infant (El. 541-44). Euripides'
character willfully distorts the intended meaning of the Old Man. He is
not suggesting that Orestes as a young man will be wearing the same
swaddling clothes in which he was saved as an infant. The implication is
clearly that Orestes would have held onto such a keepsake. Electra had
8 Based on the fact that Euripides was known for presenting characters in rags (he
was parodied for this in Aristophanes at, e.g., Ach. 414-17, Frogs 842), and the repeated
references to Electra's unattractive hair and attire before the recognition scene, it seems
reasonable to suppose that she was indeed presented to the audience with cropped and
unkempt hair, thus underlining very clearly the problematic nature of her logic here.
9 If Electra's hair is cropped, then it might well have resembled Orestes' hair as seen
by the theatre audience.

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earlier complained about the miseries of her daily exis

the fact that she must weave her own clothes (307). 10 G
princesses are often presented as skilled weavers (e.g., He
Od. 4, Penelope in Od. 2), Electra perhaps displays an un
in her rejection of weaving.11
A perceptive audience will understand the significanc
not only as an intertextual reference to Aeschylus (after
lock of hair and footprint) but also as a symbol with a s
for metapoetic meaning. Since weaving is a metaphor fo
the potential to act as a mise en abîme, a refraction in m
story in which it features. Such a self-conscious literar
already exploited in the Iliad where Helen weaves th
Greeks and Trojans in a tapestry (//. 3.121-27), as severa
discussed.12 Whereas Helen engages with her mytholog
cause of the Trojan War by recording its events in her w
of weaving in Electra can conversely be linked with Elec
engage with or "recognize" her own mythological role.
on the other hand, experiences its own anagnorisis ("re
the scene while Electra fails in hers. Goldhill (1991) has
importance of audience comprehension of a narrative of
Greek poetry.13 He has noted in the context of this spe
Euripides deliberately draws attention to poetic conventi
by tradition remain unrecognized in order to function (1
ides thus stretches the dramatic illusion almost to break
still remaining within the confines of the tragic genre, wh
'"Several scholars have found Electra's complaints unreasonable.

28, "Orestes as penny philosopher is outdone by Electra as the most oste
Greek tragedy." Arnott 1981, 181, calls Orestes and Electra "deplorable,
devoid of heroism or redeeming characteristics." See, however, Lloyd
of the characters in terms of cultural and dramatic context.
"This does not make her masculine, however. As Mossman 2001 has shown, Electra's
speech is very much identifiably female in pattern.
12That Helen's weaving in the Iliad symbolizes the act of poetic composition was
noted already by the scholiast on Iliad 3.126-27. On the metapoetic significance of Helen's
weaving, see Kennedy 1986; Wright 2005, 152; Roisman 2006. Weaving is a metaphor for
poetic composition in Pindar at Ol. 6.86-87 and in Critias fr. 1 D-K. In Euripides' Ion,
weaving plays an important role and can be seen to function as a mise en abîme as recently
argued by Fletcher 2009.
13See Goldhill 1991, 1-24, esp. 5 and 24, where the explicit formulation of reader/
audience involvement is made, and it is noted that anagignõskein means both "to read"
and "to recognize" in Greek.

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1 82 ISABELLE TORR ANCE
does not allow such freedom (a freedom more

Old Comedy). The strategy is indeed typical
the conventions of dramatic illusion elsewhere in Electra and in other
plays.14 With the recognition scene, Euripides challenges his audience to
recognize for themselves that tokens of identity are unnaturalistic and
arbitrary and yet cannot be dispensed with if the fictional poetic construct
is to succeed. A scar is perhaps more naturalistic and convincing as a
recognition proof than a lock of hair or a footprint, but it will only work
if the scar is recognized by the appropriate person. In this case, Electra
fails to recognize the scar and the plot must be reactivated by the Old
Man. It is the Old Man's exchange with Electra which, as I argue in the
following discussion, can be read as a further metapoetic exploration of
poetic convention, a reflection on the art of composing tragedy within
an already densely populated tradition.
METAPHOR AND METAPOETIC DISCOURSE:

ELECTRA AND THE OLD MAN
The issue of dramatic conventions, and the question of what ma

poetry, are treated in the recognition scene on a metapoetic lev
(to my knowledge) has to date gone unnoticed. The text of the
between Electra and the Old Man invites a secondary meta-inter
where poetic metaphor plays a crucial role. We are prepared for the
allusions to Aeschylus with such a metaphor by the announcement
Old Man that he has brought "this old treasure of Dionysus" (k
14Electra's assumption that there are no messengers {El 759) draws attention
convention of messenger-speeches (cf. Winnington-Ingram 2003, 54-55; Goldhill 1
Goldhill 1986, 257, links the final stanza of the Golden Lamb ode to a reflectio
status of the play as myth; see also Marshall 2000 on metatheatricality in Electra
In other Euripidean plays also we find metatheatrical comments on dramati
tions. At Medea 260 the title character asks the Chorus for their complicity if
to find a mëchanë, literally "means" but also "stage-crane," with which to punish
similar double-meaning is exploited at Helen 813, where the title character com
her and Menelaus' desperate situation, trapped as they are in the kingdom of the
Theoclymenus. "We need a mëchanë" (Ôeí ôè (irjxavfjc; tivoç): i.e., "a plan," but "a s
would do very nicely for an escape here, especially given that Helen's apotheos
at throughout the play (see Torrance 2009a on this last point), and the crane i
for divine or semi-divine figures. Cf. also Winnington-Ingram 2003, 52, who disc
Pylades' muteness in the final scenes of Orestes is underlined in order to make t
recognize that there will be a deus ex machina (who will have the role of the thi
actor). On Euripides' most metatheatrical play, Bacchae, see Segal 1982, esp. 2

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те 0r|aaúpi(j[ia Aiovúaou róôe, El. 497). 15 The reference

the wine he has brought but the phrase could equally w
metaphorical signal for the passage from the Libation B
he will shortly refer. An old tragedy by Aeschylus might w
as an "old treasure of Dionysus." Poetic song is a "treas
of the Muses in Timotheus Persians fr. 791.232 PMG (cf
245); Pindar refers to a thësauros of song (Pythian 6.7-
discusses the thësauros of the tongue (Op. 719-20). Diony
both god of wine and god of drama, and it is not surpris
the image of wine is a common metaphor for poetry in
Already in Homer, wine is said to inspire singing an
Odysseus at Odyssey 14.462-67, when he tells Eumaeus t
hints at a cloak. However, the association of wine with
is probably best known from Archilochus fr. 120 Wes
presented as the inspiration for performing a dithyra
poets also exploit the metaphor. Wine inspires song in P
9.48-50 (on which see Steiner 1986, 20-21). At Olympian
announces treatment of an old theme through a new so
metaphor: cuvei óè KaXcuòv [ièv olvov, av9ea б' üjivarv / ve
wine that is old, but the blooms of hymns that are new
The opening of Olympian 7.1-10 compares the nectar o
presentation of a foaming wine bowl at a symposium i
simile, and the opening of Isthmian 6 speaks of mixing
of the Muses' songs in honor of the addressee (cf. also
S-M with Nünlist 1998, 203). Sappho (2.13-16 Voigt
oìvoxoéco ("to pour wine") metaphorically to mean "infu
in honor of Aphrodite (trans. West 1993). The fifth-cen
Dionysius Chalcus uses the same verb to describe th
song (fr. 4.1 West, i)(ivoi)c; oivoxoetv, "pouring out song
imagines his poetry as being "drunk" in a symposium co
ôéxou Trjvôe TrpoKivo|iévr|v / tí)v an1 ¿цои Koirjaiv, "receiv
poetry drunk to [your] health"; cf. fr. 1.5, ov'móoiov kog'iwv
symposium").16 Old Comedy regularly exploited the met
as wine and poetic inspiration as wine-consumption. Th
15Diggle 1981, Cropp 1988, and Kovacs 1998 all print Scaligeri em
"old," "hoary" for L's naXaióv "old," which is metrically anomalous. F
issue, see Denniston 1939, on 497, who suggests that the variant naX
restored.
16Poetry is also presented as thirst-quenching in Pindar (e.g., P. 9.103-4, N. 3.6-7;

see Nünlist 1998, 194-95).

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184 ISABELLE TORR ANCE
of wine is referred to as an inspiration fo

Knights 99-1 00.17 Aristophanes fr. 688 Kasse
dislike of harsh stiff poets to a dislike of har
seems to have actively cultivated a poetic p
wine, and recent scholarship on Old Comed
Wine-flask was the culmination of a devel
cifically inspired by Archilochus, as well a
caricature of Cratinus in Knights produced in
The passage of Pindar Olympian 9.48-49
strongest parallel to the metaphor in Elect
praiseworthiness of "old wine" (i.e., previo
ing "newer blooms."20 In the case of Electr
both "wine" and "poetry" (as I am arguing
term whose cognates Euripides uses in som
tragedies. At Helen 1056, Menelaus tells He
old-fashioned" about her escape plan (лаХа
tic;). The plan is metapoetically "old-fashi
false report of Menelaus' death, a ruse used
ers and in Sophocles' Electra, where in eac
is dead in order to effect his plan. Similar
that Helen in that play is the "same old He
129). The reference here is to Euripides' ow
Helen in his Helen. The audience of Orestes should not now confuse the
traditional vain and self-centered Helen of Orestes with Euripides' "new
Helen" in the phrase coined by Aristophanes (Thesm. 850). We can see,
then, that the "old treasure of Dionysus," ostensibly referring to wine
but metaphorically suggestive of poetry, could plausibly be understood
as a reference to an earlier poetic composition by Aeschylus, when we
consider the connection between the "old treasure" and the Aeschylean
recognition tokens.
17 Drinking water by contrast has the opposite effect (cf. Cratinus fr. 203, Epicharmus
fr. 131, Phrynichus fr. 74 Kassel-Austin).
18Wilkins 2000, 243-56, gives an excellent overview of comedy's association of wine
with poetic composition, noting at 248 that the biographical tradition paints Aeschylus and
Aristophanes as drunks, presumably because of their perceived poetic prowess.
19The primacy of Archilochus in the construction of the intoxicated persona is linked
by scholars of Old Comedy to his iambic invective; see Biles 2002, 173. Bakola 2008, 12,
discusses Acharnians 1166-73 to argue that Cratinus "had presented himself through Dio-
nysiac, intoxicated poetics before 425."
20Poetry is a bloom with a potential for repeated flowering in Pindar; see Steiner
1986, 28-39.

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IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF AESCHYLUS 1 85
It is after the Old Man opens the wineskin (conta

"treasure") and pours a libation on the grave mound that
Aeschylean tragedy (the lock of hair and footprint) appea
he recounts at El. 511-15; cf. 532-33).21 The wine is descri
ing a good bouquet, a small amount, but sweet to add a cup
weaker drink" (òa|if) Kcnrjpec; ajiiKpòv àXX' ¿TteaßaXeiv / rjôù a
àaGeveaTépcp яотф, El. 498-99). This is an apt metaphorica
of the intertext with Aeschylus. Clearly the engagement w
signals admiration on one level (his poetry has a good bou
direct references to Aeschylus are also brief, focused on th
tokens (there is only a small amount of Aeschylean text in the
499 then casts Euripides' Electra on a metapoetic level as "
drink" which could be strengthened with a cupful of Aesch
Bearers. It might seem odd, at first glance, that Euripides w
work as "the weaker drink." However, we must remember the
phor here. It is well known that fifth-century Athenians dilut
heavily with water and considered drinking strong or undi
be highly uncivilized. According to Philochorus, it was Dion
who first taught Amphictyon, the king of Athens, how to
with water (FGrHist 328 F5b, 19-20). The "weaker drink" in
of Athenian wine-drinking is the preferable alternative for
individual. Similarly in terms of the poetic metaphor, the "we
works well as the more positive image in terms of specif
dean poetry. In the context of Aristophanes' Frogs, for ex
Euripides' character berates that of Aeschylus for his inco
dense language, he promotes his own freshly pruned clarity of
(see esp. 939-79). Aeschylus' potent poetry is contrasted wi
arguably "weaker" but clearer verse.
The way in which the tokens are rejected in Electra furthe
a self-conscious concern with being compared to previous p
is asked by the Old Man to compare the ХР^Иа °f the Aes
to that of her own hair to see if they are similar (521). Th
commonly means color or texture, but it can also be used
the texture of poetic and musical composition (as at Pl
21The lock of hair was a feature of Stesichorus' Oresteia fr. 217 Davies, but it seems
that the footprint and weaving were Aeschylean additions.
22 Cf. Frogs 1 150, where the comic Aeschylus reprimands Dionysus for drinking wine
with a bad bouquet after the god of drama joins Euripides in ridiculing Aeschylean verse.
There is clearly a dual implication to drinking bad wine. On the one hand Dionysus has
bad breath, but he is also uninspired and witless because of its bad bouquet.

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186 ISABELLE TORR ANCE
601a-b). Reading on a metapoetic level, the

of textural composition where Electra refus
The problem implicitly highlighted here is
poet's consciousness of his posteriority23 and t
tragedy, of composing something novel, an iss
cupied Euripides.24 At the same time the m
composition functions as the kind of mise e
aesthetic debate as the scene develops.25
The Old Man asks Electra (El. 532-33) to
or "track" (i'xvoc;) to see if it will be "of the s
the her own "foot" (noSi).The phrasing reca
and 228), but it can also be understood meta
"foot," that is "metrical foot" (cf. LSJ s.v. n
(слЗццетрос) as that of Euripides?26 It is, in
are in iambics, but the metaphor of "following
to be evoked. Such a metaphor is used by P
successful athlete following in the footsteps
grandfather (Nemean 6.15-16).27 Electra und
23The concepts of literary "posteriority" and the "cr

well discussed by Whitmarsh 2001, esp. chap. 1, in rel
Roman empire.
24 Euripides draws attention to his innovation in sev
1056 mentioned above, compare Orestes 1503, where the
upon novelty" of the play's events; Heracles 38, where
attention to Euripides' departure from earlier versions
512, where the Chorus refer to "new songs" about Troy
traditional myth and a reference to Euripidean "new mu
the innovation of having Theseus lead an armed march o
him as a "new commander with a new sword"; Hecuba 68
a "new" woe for Hecuba. On the issue of Euripidean no
McDermott 1991; Winnington-Ingram 2003; and Wright
the fact that seeking novelty is a process intrinsic to an
25 On the mise en abîme as a literary device, see D
mises en abîme and potential for aesthetic debate.
26Cf. Timotheus Persians fr. 791.199-201 PMG f
Aristophanes' Frogs (1323-28), where Aeschylus' char
irregularities of metrical feet in his poetry, using the te
27The metaphor is found also at Plato Phaedrus 276d;
ing footprints to their owners is important for achievin
feet in footprints can lead to the formation of mistake
lowing in the footsteps of" metaphor in poetic terms is
Hymn to Hermes and presumably Sophocles' Trackers
which present Apollo's first connection with the lyre an
tracks which lead to the cave of Hermes where the ne

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paring oneself to a predecessor. How could the noôCbv eKfiaK

"the impress of feet" but potentially also "the moulding/
(metrical) feet," be made "on rock-hard ground" (¿v крат
534-35)? The language here is striking. ёк[дактрсп> is a ha
drawing attention to its derivation from the verb екцааасо u
moulding (cf. LSJ s.v. екцааасо II). Furthermore, the phra
яебср is certainly Aeschylean and probably featured in the lo
Libation Bearers (see Kovacs 1998, 207, n. 15, and Cropp 1
In any case the form кратшХеф occurs only here and at A
The Aeschylean phrase draws attention to the problems o
encountered by a tragedian who must exploit tokens to effec
scene. On a metapoetic level, however, the question "how
compose poetry on [Aeschylus'] rock-hard ground?" also
to the issue of poetic posteriority and the constraints of com
edy within the confines of mythology. The question effe
"how can one make one's mark on established poetic tra
again the challenges of poetic composition are underline
There is a lacuna in the Old Man's next question to El
surviving text is quite clear in asking about "a finished p
from the shuttle" (керкйос; . . . еСгкрааца) which Electra m
(EL 539). As we have seen, weaving is clearly a metaphor
process of composing tragedy, and the shuttle is often
poetry.28 Electra, as a Euripidean character, explains th
young to weave/compose at the time when the purveyor of
text, the Old Man, stole Orestes away from death (EL 5
there were a piece of weaving/composition, continues E
would not now have the same robes (542-44). Following
reading the reference to stealing Orestes away from deat
as a further comment on the function of the poet. It is only
poet that mythical characters are given life, and must be rep
new life, new poetry, new "robes" in order be preserved
going to produce his own "Orestes-weaving," then his pr
have "new clothes."29
Electra fulfills a dual metapoetic function in this play. While
Euripidean characters often seem aware of their own poetic legacy (a
concept termed "metamythology" by Wright 2005, 133-57), Electra here
28On the singing shuttle in Greek poetry, see references in Dover 1993 on Frogs 1316.
29For the metaphor of poetry as clothing, see Nihilist 1998, 224-27. Macleod 1974
argued that the rags and cap of Telephus, which fill Dicaeopolis with words in Acharnians,
are metaphors for poetic texts, copies of Euripides' plays.

154.59.125.12 on Mon, 15 Mar 2021 10:47:29 UTC
adamantly refuses to engage with her own

posed to recognize the signs of Orestes' re
Bearers and Chrysothemis in Sophocles' El
vehemently resists such pressure. This re
function as a commentator on the challeng
resists conformity and simultaneously eng
with the Old Man which raises questions
and the difficulties of producing "new" poetr
THE "NEW" RECOGNITION TOKEN
Once Aeschylean tokens have been rejected, Euripides proposes a

recognition token - the scar of Orestes. Of course, the scar as recogn
token is anything but new, inspired as it is by the recognition of O
by Eurycleia in Odyssey 19.31 Nevertheless, it is not Electra but
Man who recognizes the scar and Orestes. The contrast between the
tions of the two female characters in their respective recognition sc
striking. Eurycleia's emotional recognition of Odysseus' scar lead
inscribing of a further story into the narrative - the explanation of
Odysseus got his scar.32 Where Eurycleia is actively engaged in t
ognition process, Electra is a passive bystander to whom Orestes' ide
must be explained. The Odyssey is an important source for interpret
passage but so too, as we shall see, is Aeschylus' Oresteia. Let us look
at Euripides' reworking of the Odyssean scar motif. In Odyssey 19.4
Odysseus, while on a hunt in an inhospitable landscape, is injured
knee by the tusk of a great wild boar as he approaches the beast
Although injured he is able to dispatch the beast forthwith and
to tell his story {Od. 19.464-66). In Electra 573-74, by contrast,
Orestes falls while chasing a fawn (veßpcx;) with his sister and is
on the eyebrow. Perhaps a fawn is an appropriate object of chas
30 In Sophocles, Chrysothemis' correct reading of the visual evidence (i.e.,

of hair she thinks signals the return of Orestes) is suppressed by the more det
Electra's belief in the false news of Orestes' death, news received before the pr
the lock of hair is made known.
31The pattern of Orestes' return is also Odyssean in style. Cropp 1986 discusses
the relationship between Heracles, Electra, and the Odyssey. That Electra exploits various
genres including epic and tragedy is discussed by Goff 2000.
32Auerbach 1968, 3-23, esp. 4, argued that the story of how Odysseus got his scar
functioned as a release from the tension of Eurycleia's untimely recognition, but this view
has been criticized by a number of scholars. See, e.g., Clay 1983, 57-58; Cave 1988, 22-24.

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child, but Orestes' fall is not caused by an attack from the an

it seems, he just falls over (though Electra does not).
The point of the transformation of the Odyssean motif is
to cast Orestes as a failed or flawed hero, as argued by G
Tarkow 1981. Odysseus is one of several heroic models ag
Orestes is measured and found lacking. Orestes fails to li
Orestes of Aeschylus and Homer, as noted by Goldhill (1
He is no Achilles (on which see Walsh 1977 and cf. King 1
is like Perseus to some extent but his actions are problem
he and his victims are represented by the figure of the G
cussed by O'Brien 1964. It is tempting to add Heracles to t
his successful hunt of the Ceryneian hind (Eur. Herac
Temenidae fr. 740, Kannicht) which contrasts with Oreste
of the fawn. Herodotus (4.82) tells us that Heracles was sai
his footprint on a rock in Scythia. If this were a well-know
footprint of Orestes would once more fail to live up to the
The footprint of Heracles is three feet long, according to H
is the only remarkable thing in Scythia apart from its large a
rivers and vast plains. The imprint on the rock is huge and it
is unquestioned (even by Herodotus). In Euripides, by con
has refused to believe that a footprint can be made on roc
The implied comparison to Odysseus has been ma
Orestes' scar, but with the Oresteia so fresh in our minds it i
that the scar is said to have been the result of a fall while cha
In Aeschylus, it is Orestes who is the fawn being hunted by C
avenging Furies. At Eumenides 111, Clytemnestra rebuke
saying that Orestes has escaped "like a fawn" (veßpoü ôíkxj
246 the Furies say that they are tracking Orestes "as a h
wounded fawn" (terpaufiaTiafiévov yap úç kúcov veßpov). The
scar, then, can be read on a more complex level as a met
fate of Orestes. The Oresteian image is inverted to sugges
is the avenger on the hunt. The fall of Orestes as he cha
parallels his psychological "fall" as he prepares to commit
When he hesitates quite seriously, he has to be "pulled u
speak, by Electra. With the story of the fawn, we are not
Electra and Orestes capture the object of their chase, but i
that if Orestes falls, the fawn escapes pursuit. Clytemnestra,
not escape from the siblings.33
33Scodel 1999, 175, who argues that "Euripides criticizes Aeschylus

fends Homer" does not consider the complexities of Euripides' engagement
through the image of the fawn.

f:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff on Thu, 01 Jan 1976 12:34:56 UTC
FRAMING RECOGNITION: ELECTRA
The recognition of Odysseus by his scar was a familiar episode for

century Athenian audience, not only from Homeric poetry but also
its popularity as a subject for vase paintings.34 The Aeschylean rec
scene may also have been chosen precisely because of its recogn
both from earlier performances and from art.35 Certainly the reco
scene in Electra is framed with strong visual reminiscences of the
in performance. Electra's entrance with the water vessel in E
recalls the entry of the Aeschylean Electra, also carrying a wat
Hammond (1984, 380-81) has made a convincing case in arguing
plays featured similar dances with the vessel positioned on Elect
The visual allusion to Aeschylus thus makes the recognition s
less startling in its explicit engagement with Libation Bearers than
appear to be on the page. In the latter part of Electra, Clytem
entrance on the carriage seems explicitly modeled on Agam
entrance in the Oresteia. In that case the visual allusion is strength
a textual one. Clytemnestra's command to her Trojan slaves to "
from the carriage" (eKßrjT' cnriívriç, 998) echoes Clytemnestra's co
to the Trojan captive Cassandra in Agamemnon to "get down f
carriage" (eKßaiv' a^vrjc;, 1039).
Clytemnestra's carriage entrance contributes to the play's sugg
of legitimate revenge. Carriage entrances seem to have been a p
feature of Aeschylean drama (Taplin 1977, 76, 452-59). In Agam
the title character had entered in his carriage in full splendor laden
spoils from the Trojan War, including his concubine Cassandra
then lured by Clytemnestra's deceptive speech into the house to hi
In Electra, Clytemnestra enters in a carriage in full splendor accom
by female Trojan slaves. She is then lured by deceptive speech
shack to her death. Clytemnestra's death in Euripides is the mirror
of her own crime in Aeschylus. The carriage sequence serves to
the Justice of Libation Bearers, which cries loudly at 309-13, "For
tongue let a hostile tongue be the punishment . . . and for the
blood let the stroke of blood be paid."36 The murder of Clytem
34For the image of Eurycleia's recognition of Odysseus in ancient art, s

IV.2 s.v. Eurykleia, esp. plates 5, 8, and 9 with LIMC IV.2:101-2.
35The artistic tradition depicting the meeting of Electra and Orestes at the
Agamemnon seems to have been influenced by the popularity of Aeschylus' O
Prag 1985, 51-57, with plates 33-36; cf. Taplin 2007, 49-56.
36 In his later I A, Euripides would once again exploit the carriage entrance m
that case to suggest that Clytemnestra was justified in killing Agamemnon. In A

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presented by Euripides in terms of normative tragic eth

stood through the subtext of Aeschylus' Oresteia?1
For Hammond (1984, 381-86), allusions to Aeschylus
lous," "ludicrous"; Euripides' Chorus is "light weight"; t
"idiotic" and "banal"; Aeschylus is "mocked" through "ma
the invocation scene is "something of a farce," "pantom
Euripides is "openly mocking" and "jibing" in "an attack
and "Justice in the Aeschylean sense has no place in th
Euripides' Electra" Reading allusions as ridicule and c
to me to be missing the point. Indeed, Hammond (1984
to claim that Aeschylean Justice has no place in Euripi
setting of Euripides' Electra at the smoke-soiled shack
noble farmer seems inspired by the Aeschylean choral p
"Justice shines forth in smoke-soiled dwellings, and honors
man" (Ag. 773-75).38 That attention is drawn to Electra
dwelling at the moment of the matricide (El. 1139-40) s
matricide is legitimate in terms of Aeschylean Justice.
too, the matricide is presented as justified in the Gold
which see Rosivach 1978, esp. 198-99), and Castor confirm
nestra's death was just, although the way in which it was ef
problematic (El. 1244).39 Indeed, the allusion to Aeschy
strengthened in visual terms by the skene itself if it ha
represent a peasant's shack with a smoke-soiled doorwa
suggests (1984, 376, 378, with n. 15).
the title character had arrived in a carriage with a "bride" (Cassandra) t

by his spouse (Clytemnestra), expecting a joyous sacrifice of celebration
with duplicitous speech and learns too late that the sacrifice will be
himself as victim). In L4, the Euripidean "prequel" to the Oresteia, Cl
in a carriage with a "bride" (Iphigenia) to a space controlled by he
non), expecting a joyous sacrifice of celebration. She, too, is met wit
and learns too late that the sacrifice will be a human one (with her d
The sequence in Euripides serves to legitimize Clytemnestra's actio
Aeschylus' Agamemnon.
^Compare the death of Aegisthus in Sophocles' Electra (1495-96):
the same spot where he murdered Agamemnon; see further Blundell 198
on tragedy and ethics.
38 In a further actualization of an Aeschylean image, Electra, the me
in Aeschylus (cf. LB 132, 254, 336) becomes truly exiled from the pal
though, as noted by Kubo 1967, 18, there is nothing new in the motif of
fear it may cause harm. Examples include Oedipus, Danae and Perseus,
accounts of the births of Cyrus and Cypselus.
39On the grim outlook of Euripides' Electra in terms of the divine
misery, see Morwood 1981.

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In Electra the problematic nature of th

an issue. Indeed, the ruse through which
might also be understood as unsavory on
grotesque plan to lure her mother to her deat
perhaps be linked to her inability to interpre
Giving birth is a common metaphor for c
position. An extreme example occurs in t
Clouds (530-33), where Aristophanes is pr
given birth to a baby/play (his Banqueters)
as married virgin makes giving birth impossi
defined in Euripides' Electra, she is incapa
the same way as her character seems incap
convention in the recognition scene. That s
tiously a role so unsuited to her (both dram
confirms the play's message that the mann
deceived and killed is deeply problematic.
RECOGNITION, REVERSAL, AND PLOT IN

IPHIGENIA AMONG THE TAURIANS
The persistent problem of redeeming matricide is one to which

returned in his Iphigenia among the Taurians, a play which also
itself carefully as a response to the Oresteia, this time rejecting th
sion of Eumenides.41 In Aeschylus, the Furies are ultimately ap
Athena and Orestes is released from their pursuit. In Iphigenia am
Taurians, the events of Eumenides are largely acknowledged, but A
appeasement of the Furies is presented as only a partial success. A
remain unpersuaded and continue to pursue Orestes (IT 970-7
are the events as revealed after the recognition scene between
40Other examples include Eur. Heracl 767, Eur. Supp. 180-83, Ar. Fr
Cratinus fr. 199 Kassel- Austin. The metaphor is discussed in Wright 2010, 167-
metapoetry and the female body in Old Comedy, see Hall 2000, revised in Hall 2
41 Goff 1999, esp. 116-19, notes that the IT presupposes the failure of the
conclusion. Caldwell 1975 sees IT as a tripartite structure corresponding to the t
of the Oresteia in sequence, analyzing common themes, plots, and characters. Fo
1971, 71-72, the IT is a satyric-type sequel to the Eumenides, but Sansone 1975,
right to argue that "the relationship ... is a good deal more serious and signif
Burnett will allow." In particular, Sansone's point, at 292-93, that the IT is an
and rejection of the theology of the Oresteia is persuasive. Euripides, according
is more interested in human development, rather than progression in the div
represented by the Furies in Eumenides.

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and Orestes, and engagement with the Oresteia comes as n

only does the subject matter of the drama lend itself to such
but the prologue of the Iphigenia among the Taurians cont
textual allusion to the prologue oí Agamemnon. Iphigenia
first half of her prologue speech at line 37 with the phrase "
I am silent" (та б' аХХа oiyœ). As noted by Garner (1990, 1
is an exact quotation from line 36 of the Watchman's prol
Agamemnon. The line is followed in Agamemnon by the v
of having an ox on the tongue, preventing the divulging of f
mation. In Iphigenia among the Taurians, it is followed by
of fear of the goddess Artemis, but then immediately Iphige
to reveal the actualities of the cult, the very information abo
claimed she would be silent.42 Euripides at once alludes to
simultaneously indicates that he is embarking on a transv
recognition scene in Iphigenia among the Taurians, as in E
framed with allusions to Aeschylus.
The way the recognition is effected alludes once m
Aeschylean recognition tokens and simultaneously sugges
reflection on Euripides' plot structure. The motif of rever
pointedly through the recognition and beyond, in a plot g
by Aristotle precisely because of these features of recognitio
{Poetics 1454a4-7). Allusions to Libation Bearers in the rec
of Iphigenia among the Taurians are less explicit than tho
and the metapoetic reflection on tragic composition is similar
cal. However, both Euripidean plays are marked in differe
absence of Aeschylean proofs. Whereas in Electra they a
Iphigenia among the Taurians there are no physical proof
Orestes must convince Iphigenia of his identity through his k
relevant family secrets. The verbal proofs in Iphigenia among
are (1) reference to a piece of weaving (like Aeschylus),
to an offering of lustral water sent by Clytemnestra (als
Aeschylus), (3) reference to the cutting of a lock of hair (l
and (4) knowledge of the whereabouts of the ancestral s
(not in Aeschylus).
Orestes' first offer of proof is the mention of a cloth Iph
woven illustrating the quarrel between Atreus and Thye
golden lamb and the subsequent shifting of the sun's path
42 It is somewhat of a pattern in IT that a character who says they w

an issue subsequently reveals precisely what they claimed they would
546-57.

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811-17). In Aeschylus, Orestes had produce

his sister Electra with "a picture of a beast" (6r
basic motif has been appropriated by Eurip
history. The nameless "beast" (perhaps a lion
specific "golden lamb," physical symbol of
Whilst in the possession of Atreus, the gold
his brother Thyestes with the help of Atreu
seduced. In revenge for the crimes against
with his brother inviting him to a banquet
the flesh of his own children. In horror at thi
Sun had reversed its path in the sky makin
elements of the story are referred to in th
699-736, Or. 807-18).
The motifs of shifting and reversal cen
episode seem important for understanding
ans as a response to Aeschylus. The action
and the protagonists' fates are a reversal o
(Iphigenia is alive and Orestes was not save
piece of weaving, a metaphor for poetry,
the potential for metapoetic reflection, as
metapoetic level the motifs of shifting and
weaving reflect the shifting and reversal of
weaving will precipitate in its capacity as a
ognized, Orestes will escape death and Iphi
her entrapment among barbarians. The we
the crimes of past generations but it also u
a weaver. This anticipates her ability to "w
which is presented as a mythos (cf. IT 1049
on the truth of matricidal pollution. Iphig
represents the character's attempt to contr
Torrance 2010, 227-31), just as Electra had
by refusing to acknowledge the obvious sig
tokens. Electra is disarmed by the Old Man's
and subsequently conforms to her role as ac
also schemer of, the matricide. Iphigenia's c
intervention when Poseidon drives the ship
and she must rely on Orestes to hoist her i
43 In the tragic Oresteia trilogy, certainly, there is

survived. Griffith 2002, 241-46 (followed by Sommerste
Iphigenia's salvation may have been revealed in the ac

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Athena, however, who ties up the loose ends when Iphigen

becomes unraveled. Athena predicts the new mythos (cf. 1
metaphorical wave of the authorial wand.
Iphigenia's weaving is thus strongly related to the motif of
in several ways: through its subject matter depicting the S
in the sky, through its precipitation of recognition (and th
the siblings' fortunes), and through its foreshadowing of
creation of a plot whose potential for success is literally re
Poseidon drives the ship back to the barbarian land, a plot
ultimately succeed only through the authorial intervention
by Athena's predictions. Iphigenia's weaving is known to O
hearsay from Electra" (811) which serves to remind us of
tion effected between those two siblings in Aeschylus' Liba
The second and third proofs offered by Orestes in lphigeni
Taurians confirm the allusion. He reminds lphigenia of the
sent by their mother to Aulis for her marriage and of Iph
cation of a lock of hair which she sends back to Argos in t
They were to be a dedication for her tomb rather than for her
body, comments lphigenia (821). In the context of a recog
the dedication of a lock of hair at a tomb recalls Electra's
Orestes' dedicated lock of hair on Agamemnon's tomb at Lib
ers 168. That discovery had been precipitated by Clytemnes
an offering of libations (23-24, 87) which included lustral
The parallel between the lustral water and lock of hair ass
a tomb in both plays underlines the reversal present in lphi
the Taurians. Intended as marriage dedications, symbols of a ne
lustral water and lock of hair become instead tokens for the reverse -
Iphigenia's tomb.44
The connection drawn between lphigenia and Clytemnestra serves
to contextualize yet another reversal from the Aeschylean paradigm.
Although apparently in charge of slaughtering Greek men, lphigenia is
revealed as being innocent of the actual killing, unlike the Aeschylean
Clytemnestra.45 The issue had been raised shortly before the recogni-
tion scene with a striking textual allusion to Agamemnon. Anticipating
44 Both lustral water and locks of hair seem to play a role in the human sacrifice
rituals over which lphigenia presides (cf. IT 58 for lustral water and 73 with Torrance 2009b
on the locks of hair), thus strengthening the association of these symbols with death.
45Zeitlin 2005 underlines Euripides' renewed emphasis on the mother-daughter
relationship and on the motif of birth against the background of the Oresteian supremacy
of the male. She uses her reading of the IT to show how it deepens our understanding of
the Oresteia.

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his imminent death, Orestes asks Iphigenia,

with a sword, female sacrificing male?" (carrf)
IT 621). Iphigenia's response is firm: оик ("
secrates the victims while others carry out
phrasing strongly recalls Agamemnon 1231
had described Clytemnestra as "female mur
apaevoc; (poveúc;; cf. Çícpei, "with a sword,"
Agamemnon's death presented as a "sacrifi
buildup to the recognition scene in Iphigen
functions to reverse the anomaly of female
so significant in Agamemnon (cf. Ag. 11).
The final proof offered by Orestes in th
Taurians recognition sequence, although it d
nevertheless continues the motif of reversa
he has by autopsy rather than by hearsay.
within the girls' palace apartments of the a
spear with which Pelops killed Oenomaus an
in Pisa {IT 822-26). 49 The play itself had opene
but without mention of any violence. Iphigenia
of her genealogy and experiences with Pelop
went to Pisa with his swift horses and married
(1-2). It is left to the audience to infer how
the spear and murder of Oenomaus are me
sequence. The violence attached to Pelops' sp
have been neutralized by its "retirement" to a
ens' quarters. The normative associations of
^Cropp 2000 is surely right to delete IT 40-41 which

ily reveal that Iphigenia does not sacrifice the victims he
until 620-24; see further Cropp 2000, on 3&-41.
47There is some debate as to whether Aeschylus' Cl
sword. Those who favor a sword include Fraenkel 1950
III, 806-9; Sommerstein 1989; Prag 1991; those who fa
119-20; Davies 1987. Marshall 2001 argues that an axe w
the murder is described in Euripides' Electra and Hec
certainly conceivable that a sword was used in one pro
48 See Zeitlin 1965 and 1966 on the corrupted sacrifi
^Reference to the spear of Pelops thus forms a rin
return to the ancestral violence evoked in the weavin
experiences. Sansone 1975 noted that Pelops also serves
they both escape slaughter at the hands of their respect
argues that Euripides places the spear in Iphigenia's apa

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pattern which is repeated in the play's éxodos. About to

pursuit of the escaped Greek siblings, Thoas accepts Ath
to stop with the words "I put away my spear" (navoœ ôè
The violence of the spear is once again neutralized thro
with a maiden (Athena).
Individually, cumulatively, and in the context of their d
Aeschylus, all the recognition proofs in Iphigenia amon
emphasize a sense of reversal which reflects, on a metap
very structure of the peripeteia-driven plot which is presen
pattern of reversal foreshadows the drama's dénouement
release from violence. Orestes will be released from the
and involved in a mock blood-letting ritual where the gr
neck will suffice in lieu of a human sacrifice. Iphigenia w
side over a blood-letting cult. It is striking indeed that
seems to predict, metapoetically, the reversal of fortunes
the recognition scene. Shortly before the siblings recog
Pylades accepts Orestes' request to escape back to Argos w
ess' letter, leaving Orestes to be the sacrificial victim. Af
that he will not forsake Electra, Pylades says: "But the
has not yet destroyed you, though you are standing close in
nevertheless it is true, it is true that extreme ill-fortune at
to give way to extreme reversal" (атар то toü Geou a' où 5ié(
|iávT£D[ia- KaÍToi кхгууис; гохцкас, cpóvou. / à'X ëcmv, ëcmv r
Xíav ôiôouaa цетсфоХск;, otav тихгь 719-22). The passage
tion Bearers 900-902 where Pylades famously urges Ores
Apollo's oracle with the startling three lines which brea
the otherwise mute character. Euripides adds to this the
reversal of fortune. In itself the notion is not uncommo
Cropp 2000, on 721-22, and Kyriakou 2006, on 719-22). P
gestive in our passage, however, is the use of the term m
"reversal" since this is precisely the term used by Aristo
to explain both reversal (peripeteia) and recognition (ana
features for a successful complex plot (1452a23, 1452a3
In fact, the term metabolë is used only by Euripide
tragedians, and in each case it can be read as reflective o
tion. Aristotle praised Sophocles' Oedipus specifically for
recognition and reversal in its plot structure, where rev
is "a change (metabolë) to the opposite of actions bei
(Poet. 1452a22-26) of the kind exemplified when a m
to give Oedipus good news about his relationship with
actually triggers the realization of the awful truth. It is no

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context that Euripides' lost Oedipus, which

as Sophocles' Oedipus, twice used the term
were doubtless reflecting on or reflective o
554 Kannicht).50 In Bacchae, Agave's realiza
she holds triumphantly is not that of a lion b
when she sees that the sky is brighter and
which are called metabolas (1266-67). Here
and precipitates an Aristotelian metabolë "reve
of the terrible truth. In Iphigenia at Aulis,
his radical change of mind concerning the s
abandonment of the expedition by asking A
a state of reversal (metabolas) after a ter
Iphigenia realizes that she is not in Aulis as
a sacrificial victim, she lets forth "many ex
lamentations" (1101), indicating a reversal of fo
In Trojan Women, a play which dramatizes the
queen and princesses from nobility to slaver
smoldering Troy, Andromache's remark on
615) of their fate reflects the central premi
the Chorus celebrates Heracles' return and
Lycus as a "reversal (metabola) of evils" (
arguably the most self-consciousness and in
plays, Electra seems to allude to recognition
to her brother "it's been a long time since you
(metabolë) is always a pleasant thing" (234).
a plot reversal is indeed a pleasing dramatic
structure of Orestes can be understood as a series of reversals culminat-
ing in the survival of the siblings (cf. Burnett 1971, 183-222; Wright 2008,
32-33). Finally, in Euripides' lost Auge, where Heracles discovers and
50On Euripides' Oedipus, see Kannicht 2004, 569-83; Collard and Cropp 2008,
VIII, 2-27.
51 Aristotle famously criticized the character of Iphigenia as an example of intoler-
able inconsistency because she first pleads desperately for her life to be saved and later
gives it up willingly (Poetics 1454a31-33). He might equally well have criticized Menelaus
(or Agamemnon) for radical changes of mind. The issue is discussed in detail by Gibert
1995, 203-54.
52Heracl. 1291-93, where Heracles says that reversals of fortune (metabolai) are
painful for the fortunate man, are excised by Diggle 1981, Barlow 1996, Kovacs 1998.
53Wright 2008, 121-22, notes how the reference to making a footprint alludes to
the recognition scenes of both Euripides' Electra and Aeschylus' Libation Bearers', on the
literariness of Orestes, see esp. Zeitlin 2003b.

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recognizes as his own the child borne by Auge thanks to

ment records Heracles playing with the infant Telephus
always like changes (metabolas) from my labors" (fr. 272
a scene which must have occurred either before or after
(cf. Collard and Cropp 2008, VII, 261).
The frequency with which Euripides, and only Euripi
term metabolë at key moments in the plot to reinforce the
the plot has taken suggests that he is inviting audience recog
structural elements of his plots. In several cases the term me
at moments connected to recognition, and the case of Au
est in pattern to Iphigenia among the Taurians. Certainly
placed on reversal in the play's recognition sequence, thr
to Aeschylus and as a motif of structural and thematic signi
onstrates that Euripides anticipated Aristotle in being we
power of reversal as a dramatic device. When Iphigenia
the recognition scene what god or mortal or what unexpe
deliver them (895-99), surely this too is a metapoetic invitati
the possibility of a divinity arriving ex machina to resolve t
an authorial power which Iphigenia is not ultimately gra
CONCLUSION: RECOGNIZING RECOGNITION
The recognition scenes of Electra and Iphigenia among the T

particularly rich in demonstrating the complex interplay of
influence and poetic self-consciousness in Euripidean drama
feature of tragic poetry, the recognition scene is also an obviou
through which to invite audience recognition of metapoetic sug
narrative. The competitive nature of Greek dramatic performan
confines of appropriate mythological material necessarily entail
in which tragic poets are deeply conscious of their posterior
previous successful poetic treatments from their common po
Garner (1990) has well demonstrated the extent to which allu
in archaic and classical Greek poetry, and Wright (2010) has
Euripides is operating within an established tradition of se
poetic references. Where Euripides is distinct, as I have argu
challenge to the boundaries of dramatic illusion which he stretc
ways, all while respecting the conventions of the tragic gen
a series of metaphors and word-plays, Electra invites the a
consider the difficulties the tragic poet faces in composing
while, by necessity, following in the footsteps of great pr

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Iphigenia among the Taurians also asks

composition of Euripides' dramatic poetr
both as a plot device and as a response to
members of the audience will respond t
not mean they are not there (cf. Winnin
remember that tragedy cannot actually b
comedy can, although it seems fitting to
sion, the passage from Aristophanes' Cl
recognition of her brother's hair is taken f
Sommerstein 1998, on 534), and is used a
own hopes of finding intelligent spectators
University of Notre Dame

email: itorranc@nd.edu
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IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF AESCHYLUS: RECOGNITION, ALLUSION, AND METAPOETICS IN

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41237464

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IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF AESCHYLUS:

Abstract. It is well known that Euripides res

EURIPIDES AND THE ORESTEIA

Of the surviving Euripidean tragedies, four are related to the

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Electra Euripides presents his boldest allu

Athens. Biles 2007 has recently challenged the not

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The crux of the enigma in Electra's rationalizations of Aeschy

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759). When the messenger appears forth

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earlier complained about the miseries of her daily exis

'"Several scholars have found Electra's complaints unreasonable.

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does not allow such freedom (a freedom more

METAPHOR AND METAPOETIC DISCOURSE:

The issue of dramatic conventions, and the question of what ma

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те 0r|aaúpi(j[ia Aiovúaou róôe, El. 497). 15 The reference

16Poetry is also presented as thirst-quenching in Pindar (e.g., P. 9.103-4, N. 3.6-7;

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of wine is referred to as an inspiration fo

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It is after the Old Man opens the wineskin (conta

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601a-b). Reading on a metapoetic level, the

23The concepts of literary "posteriority" and the "cr

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paring oneself to a predecessor. How could the noôCbv eKfiaK

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adamantly refuses to engage with her own

THE "NEW" RECOGNITION TOKEN

Once Aeschylean tokens have been rejected, Euripides proposes a

30 In Sophocles, Chrysothemis' correct reading of the visual evidence (i.e.,

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child, but Orestes' fall is not caused by an attack from the an

33Scodel 1999, 175, who argues that "Euripides criticizes Aeschylus

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FRAMING RECOGNITION: ELECTRA

The recognition of Odysseus by his scar was a familiar episode for

34For the image of Eurycleia's recognition of Odysseus in ancient art, s

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presented by Euripides in terms of normative tragic eth

the title character had arrived in a carriage with a "bride" (Cassandra) t

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In Electra the problematic nature of th

RECOGNITION, REVERSAL, AND PLOT IN

The persistent problem of redeeming matricide is one to which

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and Orestes, and engagement with the Oresteia comes as n

42 It is somewhat of a pattern in IT that a character who says they w

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811-17). In Aeschylus, Orestes had produce

43 In the tragic Oresteia trilogy, certainly, there is

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Athena, however, who ties up the loose ends when Iphigen

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his imminent death, Orestes asks Iphigenia,

^Cropp 2000 is surely right to delete IT 40-41 which