Monody in Euripides
Character and the Liberation of Form in Late Greek Tragedy

Explores Euripides' use of monody, or solo actor's song, to express emotion and develop character in his late tragedies.

Claire Catenaccio (Author)

9781009300124, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 August 2023

228 pages
25.1 x 17.6 x 1.8 cm, 0.55 kg

'… a stimulating study of the style and dramatic impact of these innovative late Euripidean monodies.' Martin Cropp, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The solo singer takes center stage in Euripides' late tragedies. Solo song – what the Ancient Greeks called monody – is a true dramatic innovation, combining and transcending the traditional poetic forms of Greek tragedy. At the same time, Euripides uses solo song to explore the realm of the interior and the personal in an expanded expressive range. Contributing to the current scholarly debate on music, emotion, and characterization in Greek drama, this book presents a new vision for the role of monody in the musical design of Ion, Iphigenia among the Taurians, Phoenician Women, and Orestes. Drawing on her practical experience in the theater, Catenaccio establishes the central importance of monody in Euripides' art.

Introduction: the song at work
1. Ion: Monody as Agōn
2. Iphigenia among the Taurians: memory and movement
3. Phoenician women: the lyric voice of a shattered house
4. Orestes: monody as messenger speech
Conclusion: freedom and form.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]