The Emotions of the Victims of Divine Rape in Euripides' Plays (original) (raw)

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

Abstract

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.

Key takeaways

AI

1. Euripides dramatizes divine rapes, focusing on the emotional experiences of female victims.
2. Victims express intense emotions like shame, fear, anger, and grief in Euripides' plays.
3. The paper adopts a gendered approach to analyze ancient Greek emotions in tragedy.
4. Cognitive approaches enhance understanding of culturally specific dynamics of emotions.
5. Euripides' works include multiple examples of divine rape, such as Creusa's experience with Apollo.

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