Description
Book SynopsisOffers an approach to the spatial parameters of Greek tragedy as performed in the theater of Dionysus. Emphasizing the interplay between natural place and fictional setting, this book argues for an ecology of the ancient theater, one that 'nests' fifth-century theatrical space within other social, political, and religious spaces of Athens.
Trade Review"Rehm's readings of individual scenes are frequently stimulating and original. His central intuition, that space matters in Greek tragedy, is an important corrective to the Aristotelian textual approach which has, even recently, continued to dominate readings of Greeks tragedy. The strength of Rehm's readings comes from his awareness of the multiple levels on which these plays operate... He draws on a wide range of scholarship, and argues for a flexible approach, but one which pays attention above all theatrical performance, to the movement of bodies in space."--Emily Wilson, Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsLIST OF FIGURES vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix A NOTE TO THE READER xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: The Theater and Athenian Spatial Practice 35 The Theater of Dionysus 37 The Sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus 41 The City Dionysia: Procession, Sacrifice, and the Secular 44 Inside Out, Outside In: Land, Livelihood, and Living Space in the Polis 54 CHAPTER TWO: Space for Returns 76 The Oresteia: Homecoming and Its Returns 77 Heracles and Home 100 CHAPTER THREE: Eremetic Space 114 Antigone: Desolation Takes the Stage 115 Ajax: Alone in Space, In and Out of Time 123 Philoctetes: The Island eremia 138 Prometheus Bound: The Ends of the Earth 156 CHAPTER FOUR: Space and the Body 168 Hecuba: The Body as Measure 175 Euripides' Electra: The Intimate Body 187 The Bacchae: The Theatrical Body 200 CHAPTER FIVE: Space, Time, and Memory: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus 215 CHAPTER SIX: Space and the Other 236 Persians 239 The Other Medea: Woman, Barbarian, Exile, Athenian 251 CONCLUSION 270 APPENDIX: Theories of Space 273 NOTES 297 BIBLIOGRAPHY 405 INDEX 435
