Euripides, Supplices

Thalia Papadopoulou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

Ed. by Jonathan Burgess, University of Toronto
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -420

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

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A fragment from the preface to the play by Aristophanes of Byzantium (

257-180 BCE) describes it as an “encomium of Athens”. Athens responds to supplication and goes to war against Thebes to force the burial of the “Seven against Thebes”, which has been refused by the victorious Thebans. Like

Heraclidae

, the play is an example of Euripides’ so-called “political tragedies” (Zuntz 1955). The portrayal of Athens as the selfless protector of the helpless was in general an important aspect of her civic ideology and became a canonical constituent of her glorification in oratory of the fourth century BCE. The play is set at Eleusis in Attica in front of the temple of Demeter and her daughter (Persephone). The date has not been preserved in ancient sources. Metrical and historical…

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2079 words

Citation: Papadopoulou, Thalia. "Supplices". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 September 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13366, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Euripides, Supplices

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