Papers by Pavlos Sfyroeras
Γέρα: Studies in honor of Professor Menelaos Christopoulos," special issue, Classics@ 25, 2023
“Aristophanes’ 'Oresteia': An Unnoticed Silence in the Frogs.” In “Γέρα: Studies in honor of Prof... more “Aristophanes’ 'Oresteia': An Unnoticed Silence in the Frogs.” In “Γέρα: Studies in honor of Professor Menelaos Christopoulos,” ed. Athina Papachrysostomou, Andreas P. Antonopoulos, Alexandros-Fotios Mitsis, Fay Papadimitriou, and Panagiota Taktikou, special issue, Classics@ 25. https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HLNC.ESSAY:103900189.
Social Science Research Network, 2010
De Gruyter, Jun 21, 2021
Although the cannibalistic feast in Euripides' Cyclops belongs to the material that the playwrigh... more Although the cannibalistic feast in Euripides' Cyclops belongs to the material that the playwright inherits from Book 9 of the Odyssey, the specific treatment of the theme in the play opens up a vista that allows us to examine the satyric genre in comparison to tragedy and comedy, as satyr drama seeks a generic niche between its two dominant siblings. What would immediately strike a spectator of Cyclops is the sacrificial dimension, totally absent from the Homeric account of murder and omophagy, and possibly new with Euripides.1 For all the recent surge of scholarship that has elucidated many aspects of satyr drama, the theme of sacrifice has yet to be adduced as a generic marker of the genre. This paper is therefore, in keeping with the playfully innovative nature of satyr drama, an experimental investigation, with Euripides' Cyclops as the starting point and almost exclusive focus, from which we can perhaps extrapolate on the special, unique 'vision of life' expressed in satyr drama. As the theme of sacrifice appears in both tragedy and comedy, it enables the satyric genre to define itself not only in opposition to tragedy, but also as a 'middle genre between tragedy and comedy' with its own particular voice.2 First, it would be necessary to offer a brief outline of the tragic and the comic take on sacrifice, which is to be understood as a sequence of ritual gestures comprising slaughter but culminating with eating and drinking.3 The two dramatic genres treat this sacrificial sequence in distinct but complementary ways that make up the total range of its symbolic associations, as these are embedded in different moments of the sequence. Tragedy uses sacrifice as a metaphor for the suffering of its characters; comedy, on the other hand, turns its attention to the pleasures of the feast and the subsequent drinking and revelry (κῶμος). By presenting the fate of its
Greek and Roman Musical Studies, Mar 13, 2020
The widely attested use of music in sacrificial ritual invites us to consider how it shapes the p... more The widely attested use of music in sacrificial ritual invites us to consider how it shapes the participants’ perception of both. I argue that ritual gestures and musical accompaniment complement each other to define the parameters of the divine presence in the cultic moment. On the one hand, in light of Hesiod’s canonical aetiology, sacrifice divides mortals and immortals, as they partake of different parts of the sacrificial victim. On the other hand, according to our various literary sources, music elicits identical responses from gods and men; human pleasure, in fact, is projected onto a divinity that is understood as fully present among the human spectators and/or performers. A corollary is that in visual and literary depictions divine musicians serve as models for what is essentially a human activity. While gods are imagined as recipients of sacrificial offerings, it is only music that makes them into full participants.
Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, Sep 15, 1995
Paths of Song: The Lyric Dimension of Greek Tragedy, Feb 5, 2018
The first and third stasima in Oedipus at Colonus could not appear moreantithetical in tone and t... more The first and third stasima in Oedipus at Colonus could not appear moreantithetical in tone and theme: the celebratory praise for Colonus (668-719) givesway to at hrenodic meditation on the human condition (1211-48). As is typicali nt ragedy, varied dramatic circumstances can certainlya ccount for the shift of mood from one choral ode to the other.T heseus' promise to protect and defend the old suppliant elicits the laudatory mode of the first stasimon,a sc onfirmed both in the chorus' own description of their song (αἶνον 707) and in the immediate impression it makeso ni ts internal audience, the wanderer'sh opeful daughter (ἐπαίνοις εὐλογούμενον…τὰ λαμπρὰ…ἔπη 720-1). By contrast,t he reflectiononhuman sufferinginthe third stasimon anticipates the wrenchingly acrimoniouse ncounter between father and son.¹ Apart from the exigencies of the dramatic action, however,Iwish to suggestt hat the different strands of these songsa re woven onto as ingle canvas;a nd thatt he material for thatc anvas is provided, at least in part,bythe two odes that Pindar composed for the Olympic chariotvictory won in 476BCbyTheron of Acragas, primarily Olympian 3and,to al esser extent, Olympian 2.² As the two sets of songs, epinician and tragic, are separated by seven decades, my argument for the Sophocleane vocation of the perhaps faint Pindaric echo from ab ygone erac alls for ap reliminary explanation. The more general aspects of this question-the currencyand visibility of epinikia in late fifth century Athens and its dramatic poetry-have recentlyattracted significant attention.³ Even, or perhaps especially, after epinician poetry de-Iw ish to thank the editors of thisv olume, as well as severalp articipantsa tt he conference, in particular Ewen Bowie, Michael Carroll, DouglasC airns, Andrew Ford, GregoryHutchinson,Nick Lowe, and RuthS codel. Allo ffered invaluable suggestions that greatly improved thisp aper.
Flavian Poetry and Its Greek Past, 2014
The proem of the Achilleid makes it amply clear: its privileged intertext is Homer's Iliad . ... more The proem of the Achilleid makes it amply clear: its privileged intertext is Homer's Iliad . This chapter focuses on one Iliadic detail, namely the famous simile that compares the visual effect of blood on Menelaus' thigh to purple dye staining ivory when a Maeonian or Carian craftswoman adorns a horse's cheek-piece fit for kings. This simile has a long history in Latin poetry before Statius: Ennius, Catullus, Virgil, and Ovid all succumb to its appeal, placing it almost exclusively in the female sphere. In returning to the Homeric prototype, Statius innovates in two basic ways: first, he does not limit his treatment of the simile to one passage but breaks it up into its constitutive parts, which he scatters across his Achilleid to encompass the whole poem. Second, he recognizes in the Iliadic simile the simultaneous presence of feminine and masculine elements. Keywords: Achilleid ; Homeric prototype; Iliadic simile; Latin poetry; Statius
Bloomsbury Academic eBooks, 2020
American Journal of Philology, 1993
Pindar's Seventh Olympian Ode celebrates the Olympic boxing victory in 464 won by Diagoras of the... more Pindar's Seventh Olympian Ode celebrates the Olympic boxing victory in 464 won by Diagoras of the Rhodian family of the Eratidai.1 Just as appropriately, however, the poem can be described as a brilliant hymn to Rhodes. Pindar himself, as early as the conclusion of the proem (13-14), declares that his purpose is to honor the island and, in one of his closing statements (93-94), insists on the interaction between oikos and polis: in particular that the polis will share in the festivities honoring the oikos.2 The exaltation of the victor appears to set off the central mythic panel, which constitutes a proud encomium of the island state of Rhodes.3 It is my intention here to explore and substantiate this claim, which, let it be said in advance, is also supported by the fate of the poem as an artifact of public importance. As ancient testimony informs us (Gorgon FGrHist 515 F 18), the ode was dedicated in golden letters at Athena's temple at Lindos.4 The mythic section of the ode falls into three parts, which are narrated in reverse chronological order. First is the story of the Tirynthian Tlepolemos, who killed his grand-uncle and, at the instigation of Apollo, fled to Rhodes (20-34). Second comes the birth of Athena, the fireless sacrifice offered to her by the Rhodians who failed to heed Helios' instructions, and their subsequent reward (34-53). And third, I For the text of Pindar I use Snell and Maehler, for the scholia Drachmann. 2For other instances of the whole polis sharing in the komos see 01. 11.15-20, Nem. 2.24, 3.1-5. On the conventional character of the transition from victor to polis see Bundy, Studia 20-22, 81-93. On the intricacies of this relationship between praise of victor and praise of polis see Kurke, Oikonomia 125-92. 3 For the epinician itself as bridging the gap between the victor and the polis see Crotty, Song, and Burnett, Bacchylides 50 and 175 n. 6. 4Cited in the scholia (Drachmann I 195). On this dedication as a public gesture, an act of public sharing and display, see Nagy, Pindar's Homer 162, 174-75.
Illinois classical studies, Oct 1, 2020
What does Peisthetairos give the Rebellious Youth, the first of three intruders in search of wing... more What does Peisthetairos give the Rebellious Youth, the first of three intruders in search of wings? The interpretation of Birds 1360-69 has divided commentators since antiquity: does the youth receive wings to be viewed as weapons or weapons to be viewed as wings? On the basis of internal textual evidence and intertextual allusions, I argue for the latter option: instead of the requested bird apparatus, Peisthetairos offers military equipment. This is not a trivial question affecting exclusively, or even primarily, staging. On the contrary, the answer we provide is significant for the play as a whole: it has to do with the reflection, so central in Birds, on the ontological status of the comic utopia; hence, on the relationship between language and reality. ΠΕ. οὐδέν γ'• ἐπειδήπερ γὰρ ἦλθες, ὦ μέλε, 1360 εὔνους, πτερώσω σ' ὥσπερ ὄρνιν ὀρφανόν. σοὶ δ', ὦ νεανίσκ', οὐ κακῶς ὑποθήσομαι, ἀλλ' οἷάπερ αὐτὸς ἔμαθον ὅτε παῖς ἦ. σὺ γὰρ τὸν μὲν πατέρα μὴ τύπτε• ταυτηνδὶ λαβὼν τὴν πτέρυγα καὶ τουτὶ τὸ πλῆκτρον θἠτέρᾳ, 1365 νομίσας ἀλεκτρυόνος ἔχειν τονδὶ λόφον, φρούρει, στρατεύου, μισθοφορῶν σαυτὸν τρέφε. τὸν πατέρ' ἔα ζῆν• ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ μάχιμος εἶ, εἰς τἀπὶ Θρᾴκης ἀποπέτου κἀκεῖ μάχου. ΠΑ. νὴ τὸν Διόνυσον εὖ γέ μοι δοκεῖς λέγειν, 1370 καὶ πείσομαί σοι. ΠΑ. νοῦν ἄρ' ἕξεις νὴ Δία. (Ar. Av. 1360-71) Peisthetairos: No, you won't. Seeing that you came here well disposed, my lad, I'm going to fit you with wings like an orphan bird. And young man, let me give you some pretty good advice, the sort of thing I myself was taught as a boy: don't beat your father. Instead, take this wing here, and this spur in your other hand, and consider this crest your cockscomb. Now stand guard! Go on campaign! Work for a living! Let your father live his life! Since you want to fight, fly off to the Thracian front and fight there! Youth: By Dionysos, that does sound like good advice, and I'll follow it. Peisthetairos: You'll certainly be wise, by Zeus!'
Illinois Classical Studies
What does Peisthetairos give the Rebellious Youth, the first of three intruders in search of wing... more What does Peisthetairos give the Rebellious Youth, the first of three intruders in search of wings? The interpretation of Birds 1360–69 has divided commentators since antiquity: does the youth receive wings to be viewed as weapons or weapons to be viewed as wings? On the basis of internal textual evidence and intertextual allusions, I argue for the latter option: instead of the requested bird apparatus, Peisthetairos offers military equipment. This is not a trivial question affecting exclusively, or even primarily, staging. On the contrary, the answer we provide is significant for the play as a whole: it has to do with the reflection, so central in Birds, on the ontological status of the comic utopia; hence, on the relationship between language and reality.
Aristophanic Humor. Theory and Practice, 2020
Among the different yet often overlapping types of Aristophanic laughter (aggressive, subversive,... more Among the different yet often overlapping types of Aristophanic laughter (aggressive, subversive, bond-building, celebratory, to name a few), there is one category, not necessarily incompatible with those others, that seems to have gone largely unnoticed: the laughter of suffering. By this I do not mean the hostile mockery directed at a character who is suffering on-or offstage, like Lamachus in Acharnians or a host of other antagonists defeated by the Aristophanic hero. Nor do I point to the joyful reminiscence of past and overcome troubles, as will be later envisioned in Aeneas' famous 'forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit' (Aeneid 1.203). Rather, I refer to the laughter of the audience as it is prompted to recall the still painful memory of a collective trauma. To be fully understood and appreciated, this historically specific laughter which springs from simultaneous or very recent grief presupposes some knowledge of, or at least speculation about, the mental state of the original audience. It also shares certain affinities, to which I shall return, with Demeter's laughing response to Iambe's obscene antics in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (202f.) or with the therapeutic prescription of mirth and hilarity in the Hippocratic corpus, or even with the philosopher's laughter at our existential absurdity. 1 Yet its distinct character, ethnographically attested, may also be fruitfully approached from a psychological or neurological angle. One might correlate it, for instance, with the laughter arising, in Freud's famous account, from the discharge of the surplus psychical energy that would have been expended at the prospect of breaking a taboo, or the laughter that, in Ramachandran's theory, signals false alarm; both describe situations that create the anticipation of discomfort or danger, only to thwart the expectation. 2 For reasons that will emerge below, I prefer to invoke and draw on Helmuth Plessner's philosophical anthropology of laughing and crying and, especially, on the findings of neuroscience that social laughter has analgesic properties, as it elevates the threshold of even physical pain, but also that laughing and crying are subject to analogous neurological pathologies. 3 Frogs and Arginusae Frogs provides a prototype for this kind of laughter by boldly thematizing the link between jokes and suffering in the very opening of the play, a scene that has been analysed frequently and perceptively. 4 It shows us a character, Dionysus' slave Xanthias, repeatedly frustrated in his urge to tell jokes that connect the pressure of bowel
Reconstructing Satyr Drama
Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 1995
W HEN NOT DISREGARDED as an inferior play or the product of a waning talent, t Aristophanes' ... more W HEN NOT DISREGARDED as an inferior play or the product of a waning talent, t Aristophanes' p/utus is set off against his surviving fifth-century plays and viewed as a comedy from a different era. It lacks a formal parabasis, that earmark of Old Comedy, and the role of the chorus is minimal, all but reduced to dancing interludes. Further, it contains very little by way of breaks of dramatic illusion, topical references, or invective against individuals. The poet's last extant play is thus seen as the first specimen of that grey area, Middle Comedy, or even as a forerunner of many themes in New Comedy. Although comparison need not be disparaging, it tends to cast a heavy shadow on the play.2 Recent studies have, it is true, set the stage for a re-evaluation of the comedy by stressing how it actively responds to the social and economic developments in the first decades of the fourth century.3 Even so, the prevailing tendency is still to look back to the fifth-century plays, to
Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 1995
Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 1995
Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 1995
Greek and Roman Musical Studies, 2020
The widely attested use of music in sacrificial ritual invites us to consider how it shapes the p... more The widely attested use of music in sacrificial ritual invites us to consider how it shapes the participants' perception of both. I argue that ritual gestures and musical accompaniment complement each other to define the parameters of the divine presence in the cultic moment. On the one hand, in light of Hesiod's canonical aetiology, sacrifice divides mortals and immortals, as they partake of different parts of the sacrificial victim. On the other hand, according to our various literary sources, music elicits identical responses from gods and men; human pleasure, in fact, is projected onto a divinity that is understood as fully present among the human spectators and/or performers. A corollary is that in visual and literary depictions divine musicians serve as models for what is essentially a human activity. While gods and imagined as recipients of sacrificial offerings, it is only music that makes them into full participants.
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Papers by Pavlos Sfyroeras