An Anthropology of Euripides' Cyclops
The story of Euripides' Cyclops resembles the corresponding episode in the Odyssey, except that in Euripides' version Polyphemus, at the time of Odysseus' landing, is master of Silenus and a band of satyrs who tend his flocks. This circumstance is loosely connected with the tale of Di...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1981
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| In: |
Ramus
Year: 1981, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 87-103 |
| Further subjects: | B
Girard, René (1923-2015)
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The story of Euripides' Cyclops resembles the corresponding episode in the Odyssey, except that in Euripides' version Polyphemus, at the time of Odysseus' landing, is master of Silenus and a band of satyrs who tend his flocks. This circumstance is loosely connected with the tale of Dionysus' abduction by pirates, which is related in one of the Homeric hymns: the satyrs had put to sea in search of the god, and were blown ashore, much like Odysseus, at the Cyclopes' island, which by the time of Euripides had come to be specified as Sicily. A role for the satyrs was, of course, required by the genre of the satyr play — if there were exceptions, they were few — and their captivity in a remote and savage place seems to have been a common theme, especially in Euripides' contributions. Considerations such as these have depressed the interpretation of the Cyclops, which is the only complete specimen of the genre. Homer's narrative looks like the perfect stock upon which to graft the typical satyr-motifs, and criticism may rest content with revealing the few places where structural changes in the narrative are demanded by the working in of the new material. Apart from that, one need remark only upon differences of tone, for the satyr drama was by nature playful, a mood that was carried especially by the chorus and Silenus, no doubt, but which left its mark as well upon the treatment of the myth as a whole. |
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| ISSN: | 2202-932X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ramus
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0048671X0000535X |