Guilt by Descent: Moral Inheritance and Decision Making in Greek Tragedy (Oxford Classical Monographs)

Blighted and accursed families are an inescapable feature of Greek tragedy, and many scholars have treated questions of inherited guilt, curses, and divine causation. N.J. Sewell-Rutter gives these familiar issues a fresh appraisal, arguing that tragedy is a medium that fuses the conceptual with the provoking and exciting of emotion, neither of which can be ignored if the texts are to be fully understood. He pays particular attention to Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes and the Phoenician Women of Euripides, both of which dramatize the sorrows of the later generations of the House of Oedipus, but in very different, and perhaps complementary, ways. All Greek quotations are translated, making his study thoroughly accessible to the non-specialist reader. "Blighted and accursed families are an inescapable feature of Greek tragedy. Many scholars have treated questions of inherited guilt, curses, and divine causation, and the questions of how these features work and how a mortal agent under the canopy of these principles can be said to decide and act are by no means new. N.J. Sewell-Rutter gives these familiar issues a fresh appraisal, arguing that tragedy is a medium that fuses the conceptual with the provoking and exciting of emotion, neither of which can be ignored if the texts are to be fully understood. He discusses in detail a wide range of tragedies and other Greek texts, paying particular attention to two closely related plays, the Seven against Thebes of Aeschylus and the Phoenician Women of Euripides, both of which dramatize the sorrows of the later generations of the House of Oedipus, but in very different, and perhaps complementary, ways. In his final chapter Sewell-Rutter uses these perspectives to refine his focus upon the familiar question of what it is for a human character in tragedy to take a decision and to act: are these actions his or her own, and can they properly be laid to the charge of their human originator? All Greek quotations are translated, making this study thoroughly accessible to the non-specialist reader."--Jacket "Blighted and accursed families are an inescapable feature of Greek tragedy. Many scholars have treated questions of inherited guilt, curses, and divine causation, and the questions of how these features work and how a mortal agent under the canopy of these principles can be said to decide and act are by no means new. N.J. Sewell-Rutter gives these familiar issues a fresh appraisal, arguing that tragedy is a medium that fuses the conceptual with the provoking and exciting of emotion, neither of which can be ignored if the texts are to be fully understood. He discusses in detail a wide range of tragedies and other Greek texts, paying particular attention to two closely related plays, the Seven against Thebes of Aeschylus and the Phoenician Women of Euripides, both of which dramatize the sorrows of the later generations of the House of Oedipus, but in very different, and perhaps complementary, ways. In his final chapter Sewell-Rutter uses these perspectives to refine his focus upon the familiar question of what it is for a human character in tragedy to take a decision and to act: are these actions his or her own, and can they properly be laid to the charge of their human originator? All Greek quotations are translated, making this study thoroughly accessible to the non-specialist reader."--Cover Contents 8 Abbreviations, editions cited, and note on translations 9 Introduction 12 1. Preliminary Studies: The Supernatural and Causation in Herodotus 16 2. Inherited Guilt 30 3. Curses 64 4. Erinyes 93 5. Irruption and Insight? The Intangible Burden of the Supernatural in Sophocles’ Labdacid Plays and Electra 125 Introduction 125 i. The perplexing misfortunes of the Labdacids 127 ii. The Electra and the sorrows of the Pelopids, past, present—and future? 145 Conclusion 149 6. Fate, Freedom, Decision Making: Eteocles and Others 151 i. Fate 152 ii. Freedom 165 iii. Decision making and states of mind 177 Conclusion 187 References 192 Index Locorum 204 A 204 B 206 C 206 D 206 E 207 H 208 J 209 L 210 M 210 N 210 P 210 Q 210 S 210 T 212 V 212 General Index 213 A 213 B 213 C 213 D 214 E 214 F 215 G 215 H 215 I 215 J 215 K 215 L 215 M 215 N 216 O 216 P 216 R 216 S 217 T 217 U 217 V 217 W 217 X 217 Y 217 Z 217 Contents......Page 8 Abbreviations, editions cited, and note on translations......Page 9 Introduction......Page 12 1. Preliminary Studies: The Supernatural and Causation in Herodotus......Page 16 2. Inherited Guilt......Page 30 3. Curses......Page 64 4. Erinyes......Page 93 Introduction......Page 125 i. The perplexing misfortunes of the Labdacids......Page 127 ii. The Electra and the sorrows of the Pelopids, past, present—and future?......Page 145 Conclusion......Page 149 6. Fate, Freedom, Decision Making: Eteocles and Others......Page 151 i. Fate......Page 152 ii. Freedom......Page 165 iii. Decision making and states of mind......Page 177 Conclusion......Page 187 References......Page 192 A......Page 204 D......Page 206 E......Page 207 H......Page 208 J......Page 209 S......Page 210 V......Page 212 C......Page 213 E......Page 214 M......Page 215 R......Page 216 Z......Page 217 ## Abstract Blighted and accursed families are an inescapable feature of Greek tragedy, and many scholars have treated the questions of inherited guilt, curses, and divine causation. This book gives these familiar issues a fresh appraisal, arguing that tragedy is a medium that fuses the conceptual with the provoking and exciting of emotion, neither of which can be ignored if the texts are to be fully understood. It pays particular attention to Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes and the Phoenician Women of Euripides, both of which dramatize the sorrows of the later generations of the House of Oedipus, but in very different, and perhaps complementary, ways. All Greek quotations are translated. Blighted and accursed families are an inescapable feature of Greek tragedy. The author gives the familiar issues of inherited guilt, curses, and divine causation a fresh appraisal, with particular reference to Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes and the Phoenician Women of Euripides. All Greek quotations are translated