Justina Gregory - Böcker

This book studies the social and ethical formation of youthful figures in Homer, Sophocles, and Euripides. Every fictional character comes with a past attached, a presumed personal history that is both implicit and explicit; for the youthful heroes and heroines of epic and tragedy, early education figures significantly in that past. Cheiron's Way takes as its point of departure the words of Homer's Phoenix to Achilles, who claims, "I made you the man you are" as he pleads with his former pupil to let go of his anger. The book begins by exploring topics relevant to heroic and tragic education: age classes, rites of passage, verbal modes of instruction, social conditioning, mentoring, peer role models, and the controversial balance between nature and nurture. It introduces the first teacher in the Greek tradition, Cheiron the centaur, who founded a school for young heroes in his Thessalian cave and instructed Achilles, Jason, and others with mixed success. Next it turns to the Iliadic Achilles, who achieves maturity by way of successive crises-a crisis of disillusionment with the assumptions that shaped his heroic education, followed by a crisis of empathy for his adversary-and who becomes an influential prototype for tragedy. Examination of the Odyssey suggests that while Odysseus received a normative heroic upbringing and Nausicaa internalizes social expectations for young women, Telemachus is more of an outlier. In tragic representations of education Sophocles' Ajax and Neoptolemus replicate the Achillean pattern only partially and unsuccessfully, as does Euripides' Hippolytus; only Achilles and Iphigenia in Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis achieve an emotional maturity commensurate with the Iliadic Achilles'. Yet all these texts confirm, as elegantly argued in this book, the perennial lure, despite uncertain results, of the educational enterprise for communities, students, and teachers.

Political by its very nature, Greek tragedy reflects on how life should be lived in the polis, and especially the polis that was democratic Athens. Instructional as well, drama frequently concerns itself with the audience's moral education. Euripides and the Instruction of the Athenians draws on these political and didactic functions of tragedy for a close analysis of five plays: Alcestis, Hippolytus, Hecuba, Heracles, and Trojan Women. Clearly written and persuasively argued, this volume addresses itself to all who are interested in Greek tragedy. Nonspecialists and scholars alike will deepen their understanding of this complex writer and the tumultuous period in which he lived. ". . . a lucid presentation of the positive side of Euripidean tragedy, and a thoughtful reminder of the political implications of Greek tragedy." --American Journal of Philology ". . . the principal defect of [this] otherwise excellent study is that it is too short." --Erich Segal, Classical Review". . . a most stimulating book throughout . . . ." --Greece and RomeJustina Gregory is Professor of Classics, Smith College, where she is head of the department. She has been the recipient of Fulbright and Woodrow Wilson fellowships.

The first modern, full-length commentary of Hecuba suitable for classroom use, this edition also contains material directed to more advanced students and to scholars. It includes an introduction, appendix on lyric meters, bibliography, and index.

The Blackwell Companion to Greek Tragedy provides readers with a fundamental grounding in Greek tragedy, and also introduces them to the various methodologies and the lively critical dialogue that characterize the study of Greek tragedy today. Comprises 31 original essays by an international cast of contributors, including up-and-coming as well as distinguished senior scholarsPays attention to socio-political, textual, and performance aspects of Greek tragedyAll ancient Greek is transliterated and translated, and technical terms are explained as they appearIncludes suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, and a generous and informative combined bibliography