Vasiliki Kousoulini | University of Patras (original) (raw)

Papers by Vasiliki Kousoulini

Synthesis, 2024

In ancient Greek tragedy, the physical pain of male bodies is often depicted. Nonetheless, there ... more In ancient Greek tragedy, the physical pain of male bodies is often depicted. Nonetheless, there are only a few examples of female bodies in pain. Tragic heroines rarely or never refer to their somatic anguish. In the Euripidean corpus, this pain is narrated by male and female Messengers. These Messengers in Alcestis, Medea, and Hecuba, describe the gestures and the miens of the heroines in pain with great detail. Special attention is paid to the skin of these women. This paper examines the gestures of these suffering heroines as responses to physical sources of pain, such as torment by the accumulation of excessive fluids under the skin, the eating of skin and flesh by poison, and the piercing of the skin by sharp objects.

Maria G. Spathi, Maria Chidiroglou and Jenny Wallensten (eds.), Apotropaia and Phylakteria Confronting Evil in Ancient Greece, Archaeopress: Oxford., 2024

In ancient Greek culture, songs had many functions, including apotrope. In ancient Greece in time... more In ancient Greek culture, songs had many functions, including apotrope. In ancient Greece in times of crisis (domestic or civic), groups
of women may have performed ritual prayers and generally ritual actions (involving words, gestures, movement) in order to help
avert evil. The use of apotropaic prayers or wishes by female tragic choruses has not been unnoticed by modern scholars. Ancient
Greek tragedy probably echoes these women’s practices. This paper suggests that the ritual performances of women reflected in
ancient Greek tragedy may have been a choral performance, in other words, sung and danced prayers/religious discourse following
the pattern of choral performances for other occasions and could well have approached the status of a recognizable lyric ‘genre.’

Studia Philologica Valentina, 2023

Much of current scholarship aims at reconstructing ritual lamentation based on evidence from earl... more Much of current scholarship aims at reconstructing ritual lamentation based on evidence from early Greek epic and lyric poetry and fifth-century tragedy. This paper, although it is an examination of a specific human emotion, elpis, within the corpus of early and classical Greek epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry that are thought to preserve the oral traditions of the genre, takes also into consideration the inscribed ancient Greek songs for the dead; that is archaic and classical epigrams and their later counterparts encountered, mainly, in the Greek Anthology. A study of elpis, a highly culturally dependent emotion, within these contexts will allow us to have a glimpse of the hermeneutic frames provided by each poetic genre, their performative contexts, and the expectation of the audiences, as well as of the general world-view that is shared by the poetic genres in question. In other words, a study of elpis in ancient Greek laments and songs for the dead will enable us to have a slightly clearer image of the evolution and the nature of this oral genre from archaic times until the Late Antiquity.

Christopoulos, Menelaos – Marion Meyer – Athina Papachrysostomou (eds.) : Unveiling the Hidden Face of Antiquity. Mysteries and Cryptic Cults, 2023

This paper studies the performative forms in the dramatic appearances of Dionysian choreia in anc... more This paper studies the performative forms in the dramatic appearances of Dionysian choreia in ancient Greek theater and examines their ‘reception’ by ancient Greek literary criticism, thereby displaying the interaction between ritual forms and aesthetic forms within the theatrical performance.

S K E N È Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies, 2023

Female characters and female choruses seem to have strong bonds in Euripides’ plays, there are in... more Female characters and female choruses seem to have strong bonds in Euripides’ plays, there are instances in the Euripidean corpus in which a heroine cannot interact the way she wishes with the chorus. The chorus remains almost unresponsive, despite the heroine’s efforts to involve them in a kind of choral activity. Bierl, commenting on this phenomenon, has characterized one of these heroines as a false chorus leader. This essay examines Cassandra in The Trojan Women as a false chorus leader
of hymaenaios, focusing on her skeuê. Cassandra attempts to involve a female chorus in the performance of a choral song. She distorts the usual choral form and urges others to join her deviant choreia. To mark her choral activity, this solo singer is equipped with objects that reveal her intentions. Parts of her costume reveal Cassandra’s identity to other characters, the female chorus, and the audience. This paper focuses on the verbal descriptions of the parts of the skeuê of Cassandra and its functions and argues that her descriptions reveal the character’s role as a false chorus leader to the play’s internal and external audience.

New England Classical Journal 48.2, 2021

Pindar's Sicilian odes composed for Hieron and Chromius are embellished with various mythological... more Pindar's Sicilian odes composed for Hieron and Chromius are embellished with various mythological narratives that are also encountered in early epic material. I suggest that Pindar not only localizes-to some extent-these originally Panhellenic mythological narratives in order to embed them in the foundation narratives that he constructs for the Sicilian victors but that the poet creates a complex interplay between epichoric and Panhellenic elements within the context of the Sicilian odes. In this way, Pindar creates for Hieron and his newly-founded city a mythical past and legitimizes his right to rule before the eyes of local and Panhellenic audiences.

Philologia Classica, 2021

There has been much controversy regarding the date, the performative context, and the generic qua... more There has been much controversy regarding the date, the performative context, and the generic quality of fragment 926 PMG, which has been preserved on papyrus (P. Oxy. 9 + P. Oxy 2687) in a rhythmical treatise by an unknown author. The verse fragments on this papyrus were composed in iambic dactyls (∪-∪-) and used as examples of the occurrence of syncope in various lyric meters. Fragments 926(a) and (g) PMG are from a composition performed by a maiden chorus which bear similarities to Alcman's partheneia and have affinities with archaic epic and lyric poetry. Supposedly, these fragments might have been fragments of partheneia composed in the time of the New Music. Nonetheless, they are not shaped according to the bulk of the aesthetic values and the compositional rules of the New Music. These fragments seem to belong to cultic songs created for maiden choruses, possibly, to honor Dionysus. The alternative is that they imitate such songs within a dramatic context. We may assume that these quasi-dithyrambic partheneia were composed to serve religious needs or at least imitated cultic songs. They looked backward to the archaic and early classical tradition of partheneia, and their existence is an indication that, in the days of the New Music, there was a poetic tradition upheld by "reactionary" poets.

Μ. De Polli (ed.), Il teatro delle emozioni - La gelosia / The Theatre of Emotions – Jealousy, Padova University Press (forthcoming) , 2021

The psychological feeling of sexual jealousy is complex and is generally considered a blend of si... more The psychological feeling of sexual jealousy is complex and is generally considered a blend of simpler affects. These usually include anger, envy, fear of (or grief at) loss, hostility, and phthonos for the rival. Sexual jealousy is manifested when three people are present: two currently or formerly in a sexual relationship and a newcomer. In ancient Greek tragedy, a sexual jealousy scenario often involves a hero in a relationship with a heroine and a new woman brought into the oikos. Sexual jealousy is a potent force in generating violence in Greek tragic contexts,1 as we can see in Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Sophocles' Women of Trachis, and Euripides' Medea and Andromache. All of these tragedies, except for Aeschylus' Agamemnon, have a female chorus tied to the female protagonist.

Mètis. Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens, 2021

Descriptions of the land of Cyprus or simple references to it (usually as the birthplace of Aphro... more Descriptions of the land of Cyprus or simple references to it (usually as the birthplace of Aphrodite) appear in a series of early Greek epic compositions. The aim of this article is to examine the spatial and temporal dimensions of these descriptions of Cyprus. I also try to explain what are the narratives which lie behind Cyprus’ conception as a place and what are the ideological stories behind the construction of this place. I suggest that Cyprus operates as a heterotopia of crisis within the context of early Greek epic poetry. This heterotopia demonstrates certain knowledge of the cultural particularity of the island concerning the cult of Aphrodite. The composers of early Greek epic poetry, seem to have kept the memory of certain characteristics of the cult of Aphrodite in Cyprus and they let them resonate through the epic compositions they create by constructing an image of Cyprus as a heterotopia.

Μ. Νούσια, Θέματα Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Λυρικής Ποίησης και Κουλτούρας, 2021

Η χορική δραστηριότητα μοιάζει να αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της ζωής των νεαρών γυναικών. Οι ν... more Η χορική δραστηριότητα μοιάζει να αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της ζωής των νεαρών γυναικών. Οι νεαρές γυναίκες παρουσιάζονται τόσο στην εικονογραφία όσο και στους μύθους να χορεύουν πολύ συχνότερα από ό,τι άλλες ομάδες ατόμων. Ο χορός των παρθένων αποτελεί τη συχνότερη ‘‘χορική προβολή’’ στην αρχαία ελληνική γραμματεία. Παρθένοι εμφανίζονται στην αρχαία ελληνική γραμματεία να εκτελούν μια σειρά χορικών ασμάτων τα οποία ανήκουν σε κάποιες από τις γνωστές κατηγορίες της λυρικής ποίησης. Τα κείμενα που περιγράφουν την εκτέλεση αυτών των ασμάτων ξεκινούν από την περιγραφή της ασπίδας του Αχιλλέα στην Ιλιάδα (Σ 567 κ.ε.) και τους Ομηρικούς Ύμνους και φθάνουν ως την τραγωδία, το 18ο ειδύλλιο του Θεόκριτου και το μυθιστόρημα. Ωστόσο, οι περιγραφόμενοι χοροί παρθένων δεν ανήκουν απαραιτήτως σε ένα καλά οργανωμένο ποιητικό είδος. Κατά την αρχαϊκή εποχή οι νόμοι ή οι κανόνες σύνθεσης κάθε ποιητικού είδους δεν υπήρχαν διατυπωμένοι γραπτώς ώστε να βρίσκονται στη διάθεση των δημιουργών ή του κοινού. Το παρθένιον ως λυρικό είδος, όπως και τα υπόλοιπα λυρικά είδη, άρχισε να δημιουργείται κατά την ελληνιστική περίοδο γιατί το υπαγόρευαν εκδοτικές ανάγκες, οι οποίες δημιουργήθηκαν όταν οι Αλεξανδρινοί φιλόλογοι προσπάθησαν να κατατάξουν τα έργα των λυρικών ποιητών σε βιβλία. Τι είναι, λοιπόν, ένα παρθένιον; Στόχος της παρούσας μελέτης είναι να επιχειρήσει να απαντήσει στο παραπάνω ερώτημα μέσω της προσεκτικής εξέτασης των αρχαίων μαρτυριών και των σωζόμενων αποσπασμάτων τα οποία προέρχονται από την αρχαϊκή έως και την ελληνιστική περίοδο.

L. Doherty and G. A. Gazis, Homeric Receptions in Archaic and Classical Poetry, De Gruyter (Trends in Classics) , 2022

Sappho’s relationship with Homer has ignited the interest of many contemporary scholars. Nonethel... more Sappho’s relationship with Homer has ignited the interest of many contemporary scholars. Nonetheless, the exploration of Sappho’s intertextual relationship with Homer’s work still poses many challenges. I suggest that Sappho allows her Homeric intertexts to resonate through her work when there is a similar literary or ‘‘real’’ occasion within her poetry. Sappho sometimes marks her allusive activity by the use of traditional phraseology, meter, themes or story-patterns. More specifically, I suggest that Sappho allows the Odyssey to resonate through her poetry when she refers to the homecomings of absent people who belong to her family or entourage.

Frammenti sulla Scena, 2020

Female choruses abound in Euripides’ plays. What often distinguishes these choruses is their rela... more Female choruses abound in Euripides’ plays. What often distinguishes these choruses is their relationship with the heroes. Female choruses have the inbuilt ability to develop an intimate engagement with both male and female characters. In many Euripidean tragedies, there are ties of sympathy between female characters and the members of female choruses. These sympathetic female choruses are expected to offer consolation to a suffering female character. It has been observed that in Euripides’ tragedies, the chorus’ consolation of the heroine often takes place at the opening of the play. Frequently the parodos turns into a threnodic song and the chorus sings along with the mourning actor. It has even been argued that Euripides sometimes uses the relationship between the heroine and the female chorus to stage the genesis of antiphonal lament. Nonetheless, little attention has been paid to the existence of sympathetic female choruses in Euripides’ fragmentary dramas and their interaction with female characters.

In this article, I focus on the reception of antiphonal lament in Euripides’ fragments. At the openings of Euripides’ Phaethon, Andromeda, and Hypsipyle a series of the conventions of ritual lament as they could have been perceived by the spectators appear, creating expectations of a performance of an antiphonal lament. Nonetheless, at the openings of the Phaethon, Andromeda, and Hypsipyle, the heroines and the sympathetic choruses do not antiphonically sing a lament. For different reasons, antiphonal lament seems to have been ‘‘suppressed’’. Euripides, in these instances, not only toys with the expectation that a joint lament, or at least a shared song of complaint carrying elements of lament, will take place at the opening of his plays, but by letting elements of this genre to resonate through his lyrics, he attempts to engage the spectators’ affective responses to the uncertainties emerging from these lyric performances and involve them in his metapoetic discourse.

Dionysus ex Machina, 2020

Partheneia and hymenaioi performed during the wedding procession have as their purpose the public... more Partheneia and hymenaioi performed during the wedding procession have as their purpose the public display of the persons involved in the performance. In Aristophanes’ plays, there are allusions to the lyric genres of partheneia and hymenaioi. More specifically, Aristophanes alludes to Alcman’s partheneia in the Lysistrata and presents on stage his take on the genre of hymenaioi in the Peace and the Birds. Aristophanes’ way of engaging with Alcman’s partheneia has been characterized as an example of interchorality. I suggest that the relationship between the comic hymenaioi encountered in the Peace and the Birds and the lyric genre of hymenaioi belongs to the same category of intertextual relationships. I will argue that the two Aristophanic hymenaioi and the extant ‘‘lyric’’ hymenaioi –focusing on hymenaioi presumably sung by a group of singers during wedding processions– have a special kind of intertextual relationship, or in other words, that Aristophanes alludes to the genre of hymenaioi as choreia within his choral songs. The interchorality of the exodoi of the Peace, the Birds, and the Lysistrata with non-dramatic choral forms like partheneia and hymenaioi, as any other form of intertextuality, actively involved the Aristophanic audience.
Moreover, I regard that partheneia and hymenaioi performed during the wedding procession had specific generic qualities that allowed Aristophanes to display emotions every time he alluded to them as forms of choreia. Partheneia and hymenaioi, as highly self-referential songs, contained references to their own choreia. References to the kinetic element of choreia embedded in partheneia and hymenaioi especially aided the Aristophanic chorus to effortlessly express and transfer emotions to the audience. I suggest that the self-referentiality inherited in these non-dramatic lyric genres enabled Aristophanes to display the emotion of joy that fits the context of the exodos in an Aristophanic comedy. The interchorality between the exodoi of Lysistrata with Spartan partheneia and the interchorality of the exodoi of the Peace and the Birds with hymenaioi generated emotions that could engage the audience by generating kinesthetic empathy.

in M. Christopoulos, A. Papachrysostomou and A. Antonopoulous (eds.), Myth and History: Close Encounters, De Gruyter: Berlin., 2022

Foundation myths contain narratives of the recent history of their poleis and play an important r... more Foundation myths contain narratives of the recent history of their poleis and play an important role in the dynamics of identity construction and the negotiation of diplomatic relationships between communities. They appear in ancient Greek literature in different poetic genres, but they are often encountered in choral poetry. In this paper, I focus on how partheneia could incorporate narratives of the origins of a city. Fragments of partheneia, a rather elusive genre, seem to contain myths dealing with violence between men, abduction, and rape of women. This paper aims to demonstrate that in the existing fragmentary corpus of partheneia we can discover traces of myths that contain the history of the origins of many Greek cities. In these myths, it is implied that the domestic and political order are closely interwoven.

S K E N È Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies 5:2 2019, 2019

Contemporary scholars usually associate actors’ song with extremely heightened emotion. Solo song... more Contemporary scholars usually associate actors’ song with extremely heightened emotion. Solo songs in tragedy, and especially in Euripides, are frequently attributed to female characters. In this article I examine three instances where a female character (Medea, Phaedra and Hermione) who sings is juxtaposed with another female character, a Nurse, who speaks or chants. Nurses attempt to restrain the songs of their mistresses and, usually, encourage them to articulate their thoughts in a more rational way. The excessive emotions, unrealistic fears and uncontrolled desires expressed by song are perceived by the Nurses as a threat to the lives of their mistresses. These emotions also pose a serious threat to the survival of the oikos. Nurses encourage these singing females to be more rational and attempt to save their lives, that is, they serve a consolatory function within the play; nevertheless, in this tragic environment both self-absorbed singing and dialogue lead to disaster.

Curses were a regular feature of the cultural landscape of archaic and classical Greece. The aim... more Curses were a regular feature of the cultural landscape of archaic and classical Greece. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the links between literary and non-literary curses with a particular focus on Sappho. More specifically, I attempt a reading of Sappho’s poetry in an oral context that might be parallel to the tradition of cursing.

Despite the fact that P. Oxy. XXXV 2737 has been the subject of scholarly debate, its significanc... more Despite the fact that P. Oxy. XXXV 2737 has been the subject of scholarly debate, its significance for the study of Alcman’s ancient reception has been left unnoticed. P. Oxy. XXXV 2737 provides indications that Alcman’s name was, possibly, involved in the poetic rivalry between Aristophanes and his fellow-comedians, and that Aristophanes and his audience were both aware of Alcman’s compositions.

During the last decades the study of the ancient reception of archaic Greek poets has flourished.... more During the last decades the study of the ancient reception of archaic Greek poets has flourished. Nevertheless, most of the contemporary scholarly work on the subject focuses on the Hellenistic reception of the archaic poets in Alexandria. The aim of this article is to examine the traces of the ancient reception of Alcman in Pergamon. More specifically, I suggest that the pergamene reception of Alcman is not radically different than his Alexandrian reception. Although the evidence is scarce, there are indications that Alcman was considered a Pan-Hellenic poet and that the Pergamenes were aware of his cultic poetry.

Although the reception of archaic Greek poets within antiquity has ignited the interest of many m... more Although the reception of archaic Greek poets within antiquity has ignited the interest of many modern scholars, very little attention has been given to the visual representation of these poets, despite the fact that many artifacts or inscriptions date back to the late archaic and classical periods and are valuable sources of information. My aim is to examine a neglected subject on the ancient reception of Alcman, thus his reception through the iconographic material. Despite the paucity of evidence, I suggest that the existing indications point to the direction that Alcman had a Panhellenic reception, at least from the later times and on, and that he was, eventually, acknowledged as one of the classics.

Corinna’s work has been considered by contemporary scholarship as the richest in catalogued secti... more Corinna’s work has been considered by contemporary scholarship as the richest in catalogued sections of local interest. In this paper I attempt a reading of her fragments that contain, or seem to have contained, catalogues (654 col. ii-iv, 656, 660, 665 PMG). I argue that most of them seem influenced by genealogies in catalogue form, or in other words, by catalogues of women. Corinna’s catalogues had a distinctive epichoric coloring because of their performative context: they were partheneia destined to be performed by and for a local audience. Nevertheless, the catalogues embedded in some of Corinna’s partheneia show affinities with a different genre, with genealogies in catalogue form (or catalogues of women) and especially with the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. Corinna’s catalogues blend epichoric and Panhellenic elements allowing her poetry to attain Panhellenic prestige.

Synthesis, 2024

Maria G. Spathi, Maria Chidiroglou and Jenny Wallensten (eds.), Apotropaia and Phylakteria Confronting Evil in Ancient Greece, Archaeopress: Oxford., 2024

Studia Philologica Valentina, 2023

Christopoulos, Menelaos – Marion Meyer – Athina Papachrysostomou (eds.) : Unveiling the Hidden Face of Antiquity. Mysteries and Cryptic Cults, 2023

S K E N È Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies, 2023

New England Classical Journal 48.2, 2021

Philologia Classica, 2021

Μ. De Polli (ed.), Il teatro delle emozioni - La gelosia / The Theatre of Emotions – Jealousy, Padova University Press (forthcoming) , 2021

Mètis. Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens, 2021

Μ. Νούσια, Θέματα Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Λυρικής Ποίησης και Κουλτούρας, 2021

L. Doherty and G. A. Gazis, Homeric Receptions in Archaic and Classical Poetry, De Gruyter (Trends in Classics) , 2022

Frammenti sulla Scena, 2020

Dionysus ex Machina, 2020

in M. Christopoulos, A. Papachrysostomou and A. Antonopoulous (eds.), Myth and History: Close Encounters, De Gruyter: Berlin., 2022

S K E N È Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies 5:2 2019, 2019

International Conference: 19-20 December 2022, University of Leiden, STAGING EMOTIONS: Affect and emotional expressions in Euripides, 2022

The abduction of a beautiful maiden by a god or hero is a traditional story-pattern that is often... more The abduction of a beautiful maiden by a god or hero is a traditional story-pattern that is often encountered in archaic epic and lyric poetry. These maidens are raped and impregnated by the gods. The impregnation of these mortal women is an essential element of the Greek mythological system, allowing as it does for the birth of the semi-divine heroes. Pre-tragic forms of Greek poetry, such as early Greek epic and Greek lyric poetry, rarely show any interest in the subjective experience of women who are the victims of divine rape. Nonetheless, Greek tragedy creates space to dramatize the act of personal testimony and witnessing, turning its focus to the speaking of a subjective narrative and its collective reception. This is also the case for women that have been the victims of divine rape in Euripides’ plays. Besides Creusa’s rape by Apollo in the Ion, Euripides dramatizes a number of divine rapes in his fragmentary plays (e.g., Alcmene, Alope, Antiope, Auge, Danae, Melanippe Sophe, and Melanippe Desmotis). Euripidean heroines who have been the victims of abduction or sexual coercion often speak about their sexual unions with the gods.
Although much attention has been paid to the depictions of divine rape in Greek tragedy, little or no attention has been paid to the expression of their emotions and to the possible transference of these emotion to the internal and external audience of Greek tragedy. This paper attempts a gendered approach to ancient Greek emotion in Euripides’ plays focusing on the emotions of the women who have been the victims of divine rape. These women experience intense emotions, such as shame, fear, anger, and grief, and do not hesitate to share them with the audience(s). This paper focuses on the subjective phenomenology of ancient emotion and not only the semantics of terms of emotion alone, benefiting significantly from cognitive and cognitivist approaches to emotion since it emphasizes the culturally specific dynamics of emotions. Emphasis is placed on how are these emotions staged by Euripides and performed by these tragic heroines.

Jornades Científiques València 6 i 7 d’octubre de 2022, 2022

The practice of ritual lamentation in ancient Greece is attested in ancient sources, and remains ... more The practice of ritual lamentation in ancient Greece is attested in ancient sources, and remains to this day part of a living folk tradition. Unfortunately, not even one sample of an ancient Greek ritual lament, an oral genre par excellence, has come down to us. Vestiges of ancient Greek lamentation are preserved for us only through literature. Much of current scholarship aims at reconstruction ritual lamentation based on evidence from early Greek epic and lyric poetry and 5th century tragedy. This paper, although it is an examination of a specific human emotion, hope, within the corpus of early and classical Greek epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry that are thought to preserve the oral traditions of the genre, takes also into consideration the inscribed ancient Greek songs for the dead; that is archaic and classical epigrams and their later counterparts encountered, mainly, in the Greek Anthology.

MYSTERIES, MYSTICISM, CULTS, AND CULTISM IN ANTIQUITY, Monday 27th June – Friday 1st July 2022, University of Patras, 2022

Dionysian choreia is inextricably tied to extreme emotions. Descriptions of the choreia of female... more Dionysian choreia is inextricably tied to extreme emotions. Descriptions of the choreia of female and male choruses that are akin to Dionysian choreia abound in ancient Greek drama. These descriptions aim at the emotional involvement of the audience. Nonetheless, sensory methodology has been never applied into the emotional experiences of this mystery cult as it appears in ancient Greek theater. This paper focuses on the descriptions, and especially the self-descriptions, of the acoustic and kinetic part of the choreia of several choruses of Greek drama-such as Aeschylus' Edonians, Euripides' Bacchae and Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria-and reflects on the multiple senses through which the members of these choruses and the audience could experience Dionysian cult. It is also possible that the dramatic poets engage in the literary discourse of 5 th century B.C. and inscribe in the choreia of these Dionysian choruses the poetics of ecstasy, an emotional and cognitive state seen as the recognition of truth and not as a state of madness. Ecstasy in these contexts is a blessed experience provided by Dionysus, the god of theater.

International Homer Conference, Human and Non-Human in Homeric Epic, 30 August-03 September 2021, Ithaca, 2021

The female presence in the Odyssey is very strong. This has led contemporary scholars to regard t... more The female presence in the Odyssey is very strong. This has led contemporary scholars to regard that the Odyssey was the work of a woman. Many of these females which Odysseus, the main hero, encounters are imbued with rather perilous qualities. Calypso keeps Odysseus by her side; Circe threatens his nostos and the safety of his comrades. Female monsters, such as the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis are dangerous and hostile creatures that the hero cannot easily overcome. And there is always Helen, the offspring of a god, who is a constant threat to the well-being of any man.
In this paper, I focus on the anthropomorphic (such as nymphs and demi-gods) and the bestial females which are depicted as posing a threat in the Odyssey. I place emphasis on the females that Odysseus himself describes in the apologos. What these dangerous females have in common is that their voice (speech, song or sound) is the means by which they endanger Odysseus and other people. Calypso, Circe, and the Sirens sing and lure people. Calypso and Circe use the power of speech and persuade. Scylla and Charybdis emit terrible sounds that freeze the men who encounter them. Helen can initiate her own epic narrative and has the ability to mimic any voice she wishes, according to Menelaus (4.279ff.). I suggest, that the enchanting voices of these female creatures represent other poetic traditions that pose a threat to the epic narrative of the Odyssey. Many of these competitive traditions in the Odyssey are depicted as female creatures, and their alluring power is equated to their voices. Odysseus’ only way to confront these alternative accounts of his own story is to include them into his synthetic, Pan-Hellenic narrative.

Change & Resilience in Antiquity Seminar Series Programme, April-July 2021, University of Exeter (on line), 2021

The Trojan Women is the tragedy of change. Troy has fallen, and women wait to be taken to Greece ... more The Trojan Women is the tragedy of change. Troy has fallen, and women wait to be taken to Greece as slaves. The Trojan women have to adapt to this new situation and exhibit their resilience to their sudden change of status. In her words, Hecuba has to peacefully endure her change of fortune (line 101). The Trojan queen is the only character who literally remains in her place throughout the play, while others come and go. She remains still on stage, although she is being struck by blow after blow.
Hecuba, in the face of distress, chooses to adapt and accept her faith. The heroine often emphasizes her difficulty to move which coincides with her inability to dance (lines 98-99, 112-119, 138-139, 149-152, 191-192, 466-468, 506-509). She has only a brief change of heart at the end of the play when she makes a series of sudden movements and attempts to enter the pyre that burns Troy (lines 1271-1283). Hecuba’s resistance to change is considered a sign of temporary madness (line 1284). Her restraint -that goes hand in hand with her limited movements- is further emphasized when contrasted with Cassandra’s frantic choreia that expresses her emotional state (lines 308-340).
It is not a coincidence that in the descriptions of the choral activity of the resilient Hecuba, the kinetic element of her choreia is almost absent. As other scholars have noticed, the kinetic element of choreia that has great potential to express excessive emotions, to excite, and emotionally involve the audience. In this paper, I suggest that Hecuba is represented in the Trojan Women as a person who tries to successfully adapt to change. I examine how and to what extent her ‘immobility’ is an expression of her inner world and a manifestation of her successful struggle to face a series of unwanted changes.

International Conference Apotropaia and Phylakteriα - Confronting Evil in Ancient Greece, 2020

The use of apotropaic prayers or wishes by female tragic choruses has not been left unnoticed by ... more The use of apotropaic prayers or wishes by female tragic choruses has not been left unnoticed by contemporary scholars. In Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes, the members of the female chorus sing apotropaic prayers for the salvation of the city (lines 104-80, 219-22, 251). In Euripides, there are many examples of apotropaic songs performed by female choruses (Med. 632-52; Hipp. 364-5, 525-9, 1111-9; Andr. 469-70; Hel. 361-2; I.A. 554-7, 785-6). In most of these cases, the members of the female chorus contrast their situation with the main hero or heroine who suffers, according to them, from excessive or manic love. They explicitly express their wish that they will be spared from this malady that is capable of causing mental confusion, domestic conflict, sorrow, and destroying their lives. As apotropaic songs face an inherent contradiction in that one must name the thing to be averted even though speaking words of negative meaning may be dangerous, these tragic passages are imbued with the language of lament or the language of curses, as we encounter it in literary curses and erotic defixiones. The aim of this paper is to construct a reading of these tragic passages within the context of attested real-life apotropaic prayers (such as apotropaic paeans) and recited or sung verse (apotropaic iambics and hexameters), as well with ancient Greek laments for fallen cities and erotic defixiones. More specifically, I suggest that these passages are examples of tragedy’s religious exploration and question the normative engagement of religious issues relating to apotropaic song.

Communicating Objects: Material, Literary and Iconographic Instances of Objects in a Human Universe in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, University of Bucharest [Online], 27–29 November 2020, 2020

An ancient ship is an object that ‘‘traverses the sea and makes of the ocean a bridge rather than... more An ancient ship is an object that ‘‘traverses the sea and makes of the ocean a bridge rather than a gulf between lands’’. A ship is a boundary crosser and one of the most common objects encountered in Greek epic poetry. In ancient Greek literature, women are not usually associated with ships. They cannot build one, and they rarely enter ships to cross boundaries without consequences. Ships are linked to arrivals and departures and in ancient Greek thought, the departure of a maiden or wife is equated with the loss of her previous status.
Nonetheless, in Euripides’ plays, women are often linked to ships. Ships allow Euripidean heroines to be dislocated and to pay the price. Moreover, ships seem to influence the content of their songs or their ability to sing. In the Medea, it is the Nurse who curses Argo (1-48) that became the cause of her mistresses’ angst and lamentation. In Andromache’s monody in the eponymous tragedy, we learn that the ships that shacked Troy and took Andromache from her homeland transformed her into a mourner (103-116). In the Hypsipyle, the heroine remembers the Argo, the ship that still defines the content of her songs. Several Euripidean choruses of women link ships to the loss of their previous status that has as a consequence the end of their previous choreia (Hec. 444-483, 905-952; Tro. 511-576; IT 1089-1152). Ships do not always have ominous connotations. Euripidean heroines or female choruses often enter or wish to enter ships voluntarily and link them with their return home. Their homecoming is equated with the restoration of someone’s choral identity (IT 1089-1152; Hel. 1451-1511). Sometimes a voluntarily travel by ship does not guarantee that female choreia will be continued.
In this paper, I examine the relationship between ships as objects described by women in Euripides’ plays and female choral song. Ships are not only linked in these contexts to female choreia. They are the means to the mobility of women that has as an implication the loss or the restoration of their identities as performers of choral songs. Women brought by ships, or taken to ships by force, are presented as displaced chorus leaders or chorus members. They cease their previous choreia, and resort to silence, to loud cries or to lamentation, a form of choreia that is often described as unmusical. The ships, in less dire circumstances, are also the means of the restoration of their previous status and their choral identity in some of Euripides’ plays.

Performing Texts, 6th Open International Conference, July 1-5, 2020 Spetses, Organized by the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC, Harvard University (CHS US) on behalf of the Network for the Study of Archaic and Classical Greek Song , 2020

Ancient Greek popular songs are a heterogeneous group. They vary in subject matter, tone and dia... more Ancient Greek popular songs are a heterogeneous group. They vary in subject matter, tone and dialect. They, usually, have a different geographical origin and they are composed at a different date. It is extremely difficult to determine the exact conditions of their performance since these songs are believed to have been repeatedly sung by different performers at different performative settings within a large time range. Nonetheless, they are united by a common set of formal features that recur throughout the corpus. One of these features is repetition.
It has been suggested that repetition frequently occurs in Greek popular songs either because it is a good mnemonic devise or because repetition is a characteristic of some types of these songs that have to do with ritual practices (e.g., mourning, incantations) who call for the repetition of some meaningful words, or, in other, words, that repetition in ancient Greek popular songs is related to their composition and their oral character. Nonetheless, Nagy has long ago noted that repetition is not only a matter of composition but also a matter of performance. What is more, he has argued that repetition is a matter of further reperformance. Recently other contemporary scholars suggested that work songs could be repeated continuously to accompany a monotonous task, that is, that the repetitions encountered in some of the ancient Greek popular songs can be related to the conditions of their performance.
I suggest that repetition in ancient Greek popular songs is related not only to their performance context, but also to the poetics of their performance. Through repetition and other textual strategies related to repetition, ancient Greek popular songs inscribe the poetics of their performance and their reperformance. Repetition is a sign that they were composed to be repeated and continuously reperformed in various settings. In addition to this, the repetition of this breve and simple compositions provides the illusion that the performance of an ancient Greek popular song can be continued ad infinitum. Their performers seem to be caught in a loop of eternal performance and reperformance in a separate time.

It is indisputable that nowadays there is a strong scholarly interest towards the concepts of cul... more It is indisputable that nowadays there is a strong scholarly interest towards the concepts of cultural geography and landscape studies. This ''spatial turn'' within the humanities has also influenced classics. Many classical scholars have stressed the importance of landscapes for shaping an author's narrative, and they have applied spatial analysis on a wide variety of texts. Detailed descriptions of the landscape of Cyprus or simple references to it (usually as the birthplace of Aphrodite) appear in many archaic epic and lyric poems.1 In most of these poetic compositions Cyprus has erotic connotations. The land of Cyprus, the cradle of the goddess of love, is associated with Aphrodite's birth, with Aphrodite's toilette scene in Paphos (a motif that usually appears at the start of seduction narratives) or has other erotic connotations in archaic epic and lyric poetry. The very landscape of Cyprus is described in erotic terms. The aim of this paper is to examine how Cyprus appears both as space and place,2 what are the narratives which lie behind Cyprus' conception as an erotic landscape and what are the ideological stories behind the construction of this landscape. I suggest that Cyprus's landscape within this oral culture served as a heterotopia in Foucault's terms;3 as a place where the boundaries between the real and the imaginary and between the divine and the human where transcended.

Poetry in Attic Symposia.

Brill, Series: Companions to Classical Reception , 2023

The study of Sappho’s work is inextricably bound to that of Sappho’s ancient and modern reception... more The study of Sappho’s work is inextricably bound to that of Sappho’s ancient and modern reception. The very way the texts of her songs have reached us is through acts of reception—by ancient scholars organizing her work according to their own categories, ancient authors selectively quoting or parodying her for their own purposes, medieval copyists selectively preserving ancient materials, or by modern papyrologists and philologists piecing together scraps of papyrus, tentatively filling in gaps with their own interpolations. And, in antiquity as well as in modernity, scholarly or critical assessments of Sappho have never been separate from received or acquired prejudices or preconceptions about her life, her circle, her style, or her dialect, as well as from normative ideas about (lyric) poetry or about gender and sexuality.
At the same time, Sappho has been claimed by the wider public for reasons unrelated to classical scholarship. Such engagement with her putative lesbian identity, poetic prowess, and feminist promise has offered new insights into our understanding of her poetry and its continued relevance, and new avenues for studying her reception.
Our volume is the first to put reception front and center in the study of Sappho, and to examine in full and at length the fluid and dynamic ways in which the signifier “Sappho” has been actively and often reciprocally constructed by scholars, teachers, artists, and laypeople alike, across fields, and from antiquity through the medieval and early modern periods to the present day. The scope of this volume is not only to continue the existing dialogue on Sappho, but also to reflect on what reception is and what the emerging trends are in the reception of ancient literature. Furthermore, we aim to bring in new and surprising intertexts and comparanda for Sappho (for example, ancient and modern medical treatises, early photography, or contemporary popular music), while also examining Sappho’s presence in underexplored media, from ancient scholia to early modern handwritten annotations and to the internet.

Vrynioti E., Georgakopoulos A., Themistocleous C., Kontonikolis C., Kousoulini V., Papadopoulou A., Stamatelopoulos N., Fragaki G., Fragouli N. (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th Athens Postgraduate Conference of the Faculty of Philology (13-15 May, Athens), Athens (UOA) 2010.

proceedings of the 6th Athens Postgraduate Conference, 2010

CSP, 2019

This book constructs a history of Alcman’s early reception from the Archaic times until the Helle... more This book constructs a history of Alcman’s early reception from the Archaic times until the Hellenistic period, from the composition of his poetry until its first attested systematic edition, taking into consideration the existence of a tradition of partheneia and its implications. Can it be suggested that the emerging book culture killed the “song culture”? Was Alcman an archetypal prototype of an archaic genre (partheneia) and regarded as a historical figure? This book answers such questions, arguing that the tradition of partheneia was never powerful enough, especially outside Sparta, in order to completely absorb the poet.