Synopses & Reviews
In contrast to earlier scholarly work on Achilles of the Homeric epics, this study examines how one of the most popular figures of Greek mythology was portrayed on the tragic stage of fifth-century Athens. Pantelis Michelakis asserts that dramatists persistently appropriated Achilles to address concerns ranging from heroism and education to individualism and gender. The book considers the complete corpus of extant Greek tragedy, with particular attention paid to Aeschylus' Myrmidons and Euripides' Hecuba and Iphigenia at Aulis.
Review
'Achilles in Greek Tragedy is an excellent book which provides a very systematic, sensitive and intelligent study of its subject.' David Fitzpatrick, The Open University
Review
'... this book offers several stimulating and thought-provoking ... observations about some very interesting Greek plays. It will certainly be useful to any student of attic tragedy.' Journal of Hellenic Studies
Review
'All in all, a well-written and carefully edited book. In my view, its main strength is the combination of an attentive reading of the plays with an analysis of the position Achilles occupies in the mythological tradition, artistic representations, the social and cultural context of classical Athens and contemporary literary and philosophical sources.' L'Antiquité Classique
Synopsis
Examines how the tragic dramatists persistently appropriated Achilles to address the concerns of their time.
About the Author
Pantelis Michelakis is a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and Research Fellow at the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at the University of Oxford.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction: Achilles in the fifth century; 2. The problematic hero: Aeschylus' Myrmidons; 3. The dead hero: Euripides' Hecuba; 4. The hero to be: Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis; 5. Mapping the heroic absence: Achilles in other plays; 6. Afterword; Bibliography; General index; Index of passages.