JOURNAL ARTICLE

CLYTEMNESTRA'S BREAST.

  • Published In: Acta Classica, 2024, v. 67. P. 180 1 of 3

  • Database: Humanities Source Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Straus, Michael 3 of 3

Abstract

This article examines the myth of Clytemnestra's death as portrayed variously in tragedy by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, with the goal of illustrating how each playwright used the core elements of that myth for the particular purposes of a given play. Within that general framework, I pay particular attention to the newly added but vivid detail whereby Clytemnestra bares her breast to Orestes just as he is poised to plunge the knife, a detail that then resonates not only through the plays but also in Greek artwork.1 I argue that the skeletal outlines of the myth left each playwright with substantial freedom address to vary the murder scene, and that the distinctive ways each addressed Clytemnestra's baring of her breast provide important keys to how a given play might be interpreted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Acta Classica. 2024/01, Vol. 67, p180
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Drama and Theater Arts
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:00651141
  • DOI:10.1353/acl.2024.a946665
  • Accession Number:182138933
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