Reconstructing revenge : Thyestes tragedies from Sophocles to Seneca
This thesis reconstructs the Attic and Republican fragments of lost Thyestes tragedies, in order to track the development of the revenge theme through the tragic tradition. Here I reconstruct Sophocles' and Euripides' Thyestean plays by analogy with each tragedian's extant corpus by comparing extracts that resemble the fragments in language and content. To develop an understanding of Thyestes' myth in Attic tragedy, I consider references to Thyestes and his ancestors in the tragedies featuring his descendants, providing points of contrast with Seneca's extant Thyestes. When reconstructing the Republican fragments of Ennius' Thyestes and Accius' Atreus, I consider the quotation context of the fragment, be it in Cicero, the grammarians or later scholia, in order to examine the themes in the surviving lines and their reception. This allows me to explore how the use of Thyestes' myth in the political texts of the Roman Republic shaped Ennius' Thyestes, Accius' Atreus and, in turn, Seneca's Imperial Thyestes. Though I contextualise these fragments in the trend of Thyestes tragedies written by minor Roman tragedians, often politicians, the few fragments of these tragedies and the political careers of the tragedians
Haley, Maria Louise
Reconstructing revenge : Thyestes tragedies from Sophocles to Seneca. This thesis reconstructs the Attic and Republican fragments of lost Thyestes tragedies, in order to track the development of the revenge theme through the tragic tradition. Here I reconstruct Sophocles' and Euripides' Thyestean plays by analogy with each tragedian's extant corpus by comparing extracts that resemble the fragments in language and content. To develop an understanding of Thyestes' myth in Attic tragedy, I consider references to Thyestes and his ancestors in the tragedies featuring his descendants, providing points of contrast with Seneca's extant Thyestes. When reconstructing the Republican fragments of Ennius' Thyestes and Accius' Atreus, I consider the quotation context of the fragment, be it in Cicero, the grammarians or later scholia, in order to examine the themes in the surviving lines and their reception. This allows me to explore how the use of Thyestes' myth in the political texts of the Roman Republic shaped Ennius' Thyestes, Accius' Atreus and, in turn, Seneca's Imperial Thyestes. Though I contextualise these fragments in the trend of Thyestes tragedies written by minor Roman tragedians, often politicians, the few fragments of these tragedies and the political careers of the tragedians
reconstructing tragedy sophocles seneca reconstruct attic republican fragment lose tragedy order track development theme tragic tradition reconstruct sophocles play analogy extant corpus compare extract resemble fragment language content develop myth attic tragedy consider reference ancestor tragedy feature descendant provide point contrast seneca extant reconstruct republican fragment consider quotation context fragment cicero later order_examine theme survive line reception allows explore use myth political text roman_republic shape turn seneca imperial though contextualise fragment trend tragedy write minor roman often politician fragment tragedy political_career