E U R
I P I D E S ’
ELECTR A
A COM M E N TA RY
H. M. Roisman and C. A. E. Luschnig
Euripides’ Electra
Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture
Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture
SERIES EDITOR
Ellen Greene, University of Oklahoma
ADVISORY BOARD
Susan Guettel Cole, State University of New York, Buffalo
Carolyn J. Dewald, Bard College
Thomas M. Falkner, The College of Wooster
Elaine Fantham, Princeton University
Nancy Felson, University of Georgia
Helene P. Foley, Barnard College
Sara Mack, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Thomas R. Martin, College of the Holy Cross
John F. Miller, University of Virginia
Jon Solomon, University of Arizona
Richard F. Thomas, Harvard University
Euripides Electra
A Commentary
H. M. Roisman
and
C. A. E. Luschnig
University of Oklahoma Press : Norman
This book is published with the generous assistance of
The McCasland Foundation, Duncan, Oklahoma.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roisman, Hanna.
Euripides’ Electra : a commentary / H. M. Roisman and C. A. E. Luschnig.
p. cm. — (Oklahoma series in classical culture ; v. 38)
Commentary in English, text in Greek.
Includes full text of Euripides, Electra.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8061-4119-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Euripides. Electra. 2. Greek drama (Tragedy)—History and criticism. 3. Greek
drama (Tragedy)—Criticism, Textual. 4. Electra (Greek mythology)—Drama.
I. Luschnig, C. A. E. II. Euripides. Electra. III. Title.
PA3973.E5R65 2011
882'.01—dc22
2010000149
Euripides’ Electra: A Commentary is Volume 38 in the Oklahoma Series in Classical
Culture.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright © 2011 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division
of the University. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the
United States Copyright Act—without the prior written permission of the University of
Oklahoma Press.
For
Yossi, Elad, and Shalev Roisman
4
Emma and Arlene Eaton
And in memory of John Eaton and Jim Eaton
C ONTENTS
List of Illustrations
ix
Preface
xi
Abbreviations
xv
Introduction
3
1. The Three Tragedians
3
2. The Myth
6
3. Euripides’ Electra and the Conventions of the Greek Theater
11
4. Nature and Survival of the Texts
23
5. Meter and Prosody
24
6. The Date of Euripides’ Electra
28
7. Definitions of Literary Terms Used in the Commentary
32
Electra
35
Notes and Commentary
81
Appendices
1. Metrical Analysis
233
2. Discussions
241
3. Index of Verbs
269
4. Grammatical and Rhetorical Constructions for Review
281
5. Vocabulary
292
Bibliography
345
Index
355
vii
I LLUSTRATIONS
Family tree from Tantalus through the children of Agamemnon
7
Theater of Dionysus in Athens, mid-fifth century b.c.e.
20
Electra and Orestes with the body of Clytemnesta
21
Probable reconstruction of the me\chane\ for the Theater of Dionysos
22
ix
P REFACE
Euripides’ Electra is a favorite text for classroom reading. The purpose of
our commentary is to provide material we deem useful for enhancing the
experience of both undergraduate and graduate students, whether early in
their studies or more advanced. Although the text is not very difficult as
Greek texts go, its gripping story, variations on the traditional myth, ideas
about fifth-century Athenian thought, manners, and morals, attitudes toward
the gods, and its almost contemporary feel are among many aspects that provide endless fodder for discussion and exploration. It repeatedly calls for
comparisons with Aeschylus’ and Sophocles’ treatments of the story of the
revenge taken against Agamemnon’s murderers by Electra and Orestes. Our
Introduction serves as a brief guide to the myth as it is presented in epic,
lyric, and tragedy.
We have tried to accommodate the various levels of students who are
likely to read this play in Greek. Our notes give rudimentary grammatical
help and syntactical reviews to fortify their language skills, but these are
confined to appendices, allowing more advanced students to ignore them,
while giving the less experienced a place to look for review and be saved
from the frustration of the odd verb form that is hard to find. We have also
provided a general vocabulary as an aid to students reading their first
Euripidean play or for those whose aim is a rapid reading. On the assumption that our readers have limited experience in reading Greek tragedies,
we try to make clear what is common to tragedy in general or to Euripides
and what is rare, unusual, or specific to this play.
We also introduce students to such tools and terms of scholarship as
scholia, obeli, interpolation, and literary or linguistic expressions. At the same
time we address various readings of the manuscripts and offer explanations
for our reading versus the manuscripts or the variously offered emendations.
xi
xii
PREFACE
Our notes include ample literary interpretations coupled with anthropological
and cultural commentary (see, for example, the notes ad 83 on pistos, xenos,
and philos). The Introduction relates the conventions of the Greek theater
specifically to this play and we comment throughout on stage business to help
our readers visualize the scenes and participate mentally in the spectacle.
We have also included references to secondary scholarship in the commentary to encourage students who would like to research further certain
scenes or topics. These are tied to a full bibliography. Attention is given to
meter throughout, including a concise general introduction, descriptions of
the meters of each ode, an appendix of metrical analyses, and discussions of
resolutions and the dramatic contexts of meter.
In our earlier collaboration on a commentary on Euripides’ Alcestis
(Euripides’ Alcestis with Notes and Commentary by C. A. E. Luschnig and
H. M. Roisman [Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003]), we offered
our differing interpretative views of the play in a separate section following
the commentary. This time, however, we have found that we agree on most
of the major issues of Electra, from its date to the attitude expressed toward
matricide. For this reason, in the section titled “Discussions,” we examine a
few of the many significant topics about Electra, some of which have not
often been treated independently, ending with descriptions of the literary
afterlife of the play in theater and film. This material is provided both for
classroom dialogue and as a starting point for research.
Our collaboration was carried out entirely over e-mail and we were geographically separated throughout the writing. Thus our thanks go to separate
individuals or groups of people who have helped us in different locales. First
our students (whether at Colby College or the University of Idaho) have
earned our gratitude. Their probing questions and vital interest in the play not
only prompted us to think about producing a commentary, but have also
guided us in examining new corners and facets of interpretations of this play
and Greek tragedy in general. Both of us also owe thanks to Karen Gillum of
Colby College for helping us with the metrics and editing and to the readers
for the University of Oklahoma Press, for providing many helpful comments
and suggestions. Hanna Roisman extends her great thanks to the Department
of Classics at the University of Cincinnati for the Margo Tytus Fellowship
that enabled her to work at the magnificent Blegen Library, and to the
library’s staff for their helpful support in finding material. She is most grateful
to her friend Toby Mostysser, not only for contributing to the readability of
her part of the commentary, but also for many insights and comments about
the play. To Suzanne Jones of Colby College, she gives thanks for the reliable,
PREFACE
xiii
thoughtful, and generous administrative help one needs when one writes a
book, and last but not least, she owes thanks to the dedicated team of
librarians at the interlibrary loan department of Miller Library at Colby College who spared no effort in getting her any article or book she requested.
Zeev and Nadia Rubinsohn, and Beatrice Rosenberg were always there for
her. Her deepest thanks are to her husband Yossi Roisman and her sons
Elad L. Roisman and Shalev G. Roisman, on whom she knows she can
always rely and to whom she dedicates her work. Cecelia Luschnig would
like to thank her friends on the library staff at the University of Idaho,
especially Hannah Etherton and Jesse Thomas for their expertise, and
good cheer, and willingness to wink at an overdue book from time to time.
Her heartfelt thanks as always goes to Lance Luschnig, who during the
January 2009 floods diverted a rivulet from her basement study and who
always helps her out of her computer woes.
January 2009
A BBREVIATIONS
Greek Authors and Works
frg.
ms, mss.
Aelian
VH
A.
Ag.
Cho.
Eum.
PB
Sept.
Supp.
Anacr.
Apoll.
Arist.
Col.
HA
Probl.
Aristoph.
Acharn.
Eccl.
Plut.
Thesm.
E. Euripides
Alc.
Andr.
fragment
manuscript, manuscripts
Varia Historia
Aeschylus
Agamemnon
Choephori (Libation Bearers)
Eumenides
Prometheus Bound
Septem contra Thebas (Seven against Thebes)
Supplices (Suppliant Women)
Anacreon
Apollodorus
Aristotle
Colors (de Coloribus)
Historia Animalium
Problems (Problemata)
Aristophanes
Acharnians
Ecclesiazusae
Plutus (Wealth)
Thesmophoriazusae
Alcestis
Andromache
xv
xvi
ABBREVIATIONS
Bacch.
El.
Hec.
Hel.
Heracl.
Hipp.
HF
IA
IT
Med.
Or.
Phoen.
Supp.
TW
H.
Il.
Od.
Hes.
WD
Theo.
Hdt.
Hipp.
Mul.
Men.
mono.
Pind.
O.
Isthm.
N.
Plutarch
Lys.
PMG
POxy.
Ps.-Dem.
S.
Ai.
Ant.
El.
OC
Bacchae
Electra
Hecuba
Helen (Helena)
Heracleidae (Children of Heracles)
Hippolytus
Heracles (Hercules Furens)
Iphigenia at Aulis
Iphigenia among the Taurians
Medea
Orestes
Phoenissae (Phoenician Women)
Suppliants
Trojan Women (Troades)
Homer
Iliad
Odyssey
Hesiod
Works and Days
Theogony
Herodotus, History of the Persian Wars
Hippocrates
Diseases in Women (gunaike›a)
Menander
monostichoi (one-liners)
Pindar
Olympian Odes
Isthmian Odes
Nemean Odes
Lysander
Poetarum Melicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (Davies)
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Pseudo-Demosthenes
Sophocles
Aias (Ajax)
Antigone
Electra
Oedipus Coloneus (Oedipus at Colonus)
ABBREVIATIONS
OT
Ph.
Tr.
Thuc.
xvii
Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus the King)
Philoctetes
Trachiniae (Trachinian Women)
Thucydides, Peloponnesian War
Reference Works
G&G (Goodwin and Gulick) Goodwin, W. W. and Charles B. Gulick.
1930. Greek Grammar. Boston: Ginn & Company.
GP Denniston, J. D. 1934. Greek Particles. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
GMT
(Greek Moods and Tenses) Goodwin, William Watson. 1890. Syntax
of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb. Boston: Ginn & Company.
K-G
(Kühner-Gerth) Kühner, R. and B. Gerth. See bibliography.
K.
Kühner, R. and F. Blass. See bibliography.
LSJ
Liddell, H. G., R. Scott, and H. S. Jones. 1940, etc. A Greek-English
Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Smyth Smyth, Herbert Weir, revised by Gordon M. Messing. 1956. Greek
Grammar. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
TrGF Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. (See bibliography under
Kannicht, Snell, Radt.)
Grammatical Terms
acc.
act.
aor.
dat.
fem.
fut.
gen.
impf.
m-p
masc.
mid.
accusative
active
aorist
dative
feminine
future
genitive
imperfect
middle-passive
masculine
middle
neut.
nom.
opt.
pass.
pf.
pl.
plpf.
pres.
sg.
subj.
neuter
nominative
optative
passive
perfect
plural
pluperfect
present
singular
subjunctive
Euripides’ Electra
I NTRODUCTION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Three Tragedians
The Myth
Euripides’ Electra and the Conventions of the Greek Theater
Nature and Survival of the Text
Meter and Prosody
The Date of Euripides’ Electra
Definitions of Literary Terms used in the Commentary
1. The Three Tragedians
The tragedies that have survived from classical Greece were all written during
the fifth century b.c.e. in Athens and are the work of only three playwrights,
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.1 A popular legend has it that Aeschylus
fought in the battle of Salamis (480 b.c.e.), Sophocles led the boys’ chorus
in the paean of victory after the battle, and Euripides was born on Salamis
on the very day of the battle. Though its veracity is doubted, the story helps us
remember the relative chronologies of the three great dramatists.
4
Aeschylus was born at Eleusis in Attica ca. 525 b.c.e. and died in Sicily ca.
456 b.c.e. He fought in the battles of Marathon (490) and Salamis (480).
Of the eighty-two plays he is believed to have written, seven (or six if PB
is by someone else) have survived:
1. Only three playwrights as far as we know. In fact the authorship of PB, which has come
down under Aeschylus’ name, and that of Rhesus, attributed to Euripides, have been disputed,
meaning that we may have complete plays by as many as five tragedians, though we do not know
the names of the other two possible authors.
3
4
EURIPIDES’ ELECTRA
Persians (Persae, 472 b.c.e.)
Seven against Thebes (Septem, 467 b.c.e.)
Suppliant Women (Supplices, no firm date, but known to have been in
competition with Sophocles)
Oresteia (458 b.c.e.): Agamemnon, Choephori (or Libation Bearers),
Eumenides
Prometheus Bound (date unknown, thought by many not to be by
Aeschylus)
Aeschylus is the only one of the three tragedians to have used the connected trilogy (see “Conventions”), which allowed scope for his grand
vision, his fondness for the spectacular, and the visualization of his images
through staging. He is considered by many to be the most optimistic and
religious of the three, especially in that he gives cosmic meaning to social
and political customs and institutions.
4
Sophocles was born at Colonus, a suburb of Athens, in 496 b.c.e. and died
in 406. He was a prominent citizen of Athens, was twice elected to the
board of generals, and served on the committee in charge of cleaning up
after the Sicilian disaster. He is known to have written 123 plays and won
first prize twenty-four times. Sophocles never came in third. The Oedipus
Tyrannus, which was used by Aristotle as the exemplary tragedy and is in
our time the most widely read Greek play, actually came in second. Seven
of Sophocles’ plays survive:
Ajax
Antigone
Electra
Trachiniae (Trachinian Women)
Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus the King)
Philoctetes (409 b.c.e.)
Oedipus at Colonus (406 b.c.e.)
Only the last two are firmly dated.
Sophocles concentrated more on the characters than on the mythical grandeur
of the stories, creating men and women of heroic stature and temperament:
Oedipus became the model for “the tragic hero” with his or her “tragic flaw.”
Sophocles was the master of the perfectly made play and of tragic irony.
4
Euripides was born at Phlya, east of Hymettus, in Attica ca. 480 b.c.e. and
died in Macedonia in 406. He was not prominent as a soldier or in politics,
but Aristophanes portrayed him as a character in several comedies. It is said
that he was a loner and wrote his plays in a cave on the island of Salamis.
INTRODUCTION
5
Nineteen (out of as many as ninety-two) plays survive under Euripides’
name, of which ten were preserved in the canon of plays that were taught in
school, and nine survived by chance as part of a collection of his plays in
alphabetical order (limited to the titles beginning with H through K, marked
below with an asterisk; see below under “Nature and Survival”). Electra is
in the latter group. Instead of Electra (which goes over the same basic material as Sophocles’ version), Orestes, which departs from the traditional story,
found its way into the canon. Of the seventeen serious plays certainly by
Euripides, eight can be dated with a fair degree of certainty. The other ten
have been arranged among them according to metrical analysis (see “Date”):
Alcestis (438 b.c.e., a “pro-satyr” play)
Medea (431 b.c.e.)
Heracleidae*
Hippolytus (428 b.c.e.; first prize)
Andromache
Hecuba
Suppliants* (in Greek, Hiketides)
Electra* (422–413 b.c.e.; see “Date”)
Heracles*
The Trojan Women (415 b.c.e.)
Iphigenia in Tauris*
Ion*
Helen* (412 b.c.e.)
Phoenician Women
Orestes (408 b.c.e.)
Bacchae (405 b.c.e. with IA)
Iphigenia at Aulis* (405 b.c.e.; with Bacch., first prize, awarded
posthumously)
In addition:
Rhesus (believed by many not to be the work of Euripides)
Cyclops* (a satyr play of unknown date)
Euripides won first prize only four times in his lifetime. He won a fifth
first prize with his last plays (including IA and Bacchae), which were produced posthumously. He was known for his portrayal of unheroic heroes and
for his prominent women. Euripides was clearly interested in the intellectual
movements of his day and was called in antiquity the “philosopher of the
stage.” He was closely associated with Socrates by Aristophanes and other
comic playwrights. His characters act and speak like his contemporaries and
use more idiomatic language than those of the other tragedians.