Pure Propaganda or Great Art, Patriotism and Civic Engagement? How Aeschylus and Euripides Used Their Plots to Support Athenian Politics towards the Allies

• Authors: Olga Śmiechowicz

Title variants

PL

Czysta propaganda, czy wielka sztuka, patriotyzm i obywatelskie zaangażowanie – jak Ajschylos oraz Eurypides używali swoich fabuł, by wspomóc Ateńską politykę wobec sojuszników

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

PL

In this article I would like to focus on one research topic: how ancient tragedians manipulated their drama plots (based on Greek mythology) so as to use them for influencing Athenian “international policies.” Those were not any mistakes or airs of nonchalance on the part of the Athenian tragedians; it was just their carefully premeditated strategy of creating persuasive messages to function as pure propaganda. I am chiefly directing my attention to the topic of how the Athenians established their relations with the allies. Meaning the closest neighbours as well as some of those who did not belong in the circle of the Hellenic civilization. I have decided to devote all of my attention to Aeschylus’ and Euripides’ works, as both of them were obvious supporters of the democratic faction. I focused my attention on the texts: Aeschylus: The Suppliants, Oresteia; Euripides: Heracleidae, Andromache, Archelaus,Temenos.

Keywords

EN

ancient theatre; propaganda; allies; tragedy; Aeschylus; Euripides; international politics; ancient theatre; propaganda; allies; tragedy; Aeschylus; Euripides; international politics

PL

ancient theatre; propaganda; allies; tragedy; Aeschylus; Euripides; international politics

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 5-16

Dates

published

2019-12-15

Contributors

author

Olga Śmiechowicz

References

• Primary sources
• Aeschylus. Suppliant Women. Trans. by H. W. Smyth. 1926. Cambridge.
• Euripides. Heracleidae. Trans. by D. Kovacs. 1994. Cambridge.
• Euripides. Children of Heracles. Hippolytus. Andromache. Hecuba. Trans. by D. Kovacs. 1995. Cambridge.
• Euripides. Tragedies. Trans. by J. Łanowski. 2005. Warsaw.
• Euripides. Tragedies. Trans. by J. Łanowski. 2006. Warsaw.
• Herodotus. Histories. Trans. by A. D. Godley. 1920. Cambridge.
• Homer. The Iliad. Trans. by A. T. Murray. 1924. Cambridge.
• Jelinek E. Podopieczni . Trans. by K. Bikont. In Dialog 4 (2015): 75–121.
• Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes. Trans. by R. G. Bury. 1967–1968. London.
• Secondary sources
• Chou 2012: Chou, M. 2012. Greek Tragedy and Contemporary Democracy. London.
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• Sommerstein 1997: Sommerstein, A. 1997. “The theatre audience, the Demos, and the Suppliants of Aeschylus.” In Greek tragedy and the historian. Ed. by C. Pelling, 63–79. Oxford.
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• Rosen 2010: Rosen, R. 2010. “Aristophanes.” In Brill’s Companion to the Study of Greek Comedy. Ed. by G. W. Dobrov, 227–278. Leiden–Boston.
• Śmiechowicz 2018: Śmiechowicz, O. 2018. Didaskalia do historii – teatr starożytnej Grecji i jego kontekst polityczny – czyli historia teatru dla zaawansowanych. Kraków: Universitas.
• Wilamowitz-Moellendorff von 1899: Wilamowitz-Moellendorff von, U. 1899. “Excurse zum Oedipus des Sophokles.” Hermes 34: 55–80.
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Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/sppgl.2020.XXIX.2.1