
Intro -- Series Page -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Introduction -- 0.1. Introducing Off-stage Groups -- 0.2. Existing Scholarship On Off-stage Groups -- 0.3. Methodology And Related Scholarship -- 0.4. Defining Groups -- 0.5. Division Of Material -- 0.6. Book Outline -- 1. Motifs Of Group Psychology In Classical Greek Prose -- 1.1. Introduction -- 1.2. Groups As Psychological Units -- 1.3. Groups' Decision-making Abilities -- 1.4. How Groups Are Controlled -- 1.5. Group Communication And Noise -- 1.6. Conclusions 2. Collective Political Decision-making In Tragedy -- 2.1. Debating Democracy: Euripides' Suppliants -- 2.2. 'the Thoroughly-persuaded Dêmos'? Aeschylus' Suppliants -- 2.3. The Hostile Dêmos: Orestes -- 2.4. Conclusions -- 3. Collective Political Decision-making In Aristophanes -- 3.1. The Off-stage Boule¡ In Knights -- 3.2. Dêmos On Stage In Knights -- 3.3. Individual And Collective In Assembly-women -- 3.4. Chorus As Collective In Birds -- 3.5. Conclusions -- 4. Off-stage Populations -- 4.1. Misreading The Population: Antigone -- 4.2. Using The Population: Oedipus At Colonus 4.3. The Watching Population: Oedipus Tyrannus -- 4.4. Impotent Populations In Aeschylus -- 4.5. Conclusions -- 5. 'political' Armies In Tragedy -- 5.1. Fear And The Army In Ia -- 5.2. Women And The Army In Ia -- 5.3. Armed Politics In Ia -- 5.4. Ia: Conclusions -- 5.5. Armies As Powerful Off-stage Presences -- 5.6. Armies As Poleis -- 5.7. Conclusions -- 6. Female Groups -- 6.1. 'the Women's De¡mos': Thesmophoriazusae -- 6.2. 'like Artemisia': Lysistrata -- 6.3. 'best Of The Trojan Women': Hecuba -- 6.4. 'battle With The Maenads': Bacchae -- 6.5. Conclusions -- 7. Conclusions 7.1. What Connects Off-stage Groups? -- 7.2. Depicting Communities: Off-stage Groups And Choruses -- 7.3. Re-arranging Source Material: Temporal And Author-specific Patterns -- Bibliography -- Index Locorum -- General Index Alexandra Hardwick. Also Issued In
This work investigates how off-stage groups function as critical narrative and political devices within the structure of Athenian drama. Alexandra Hardwick, a scholar of classical literature, utilizes a methodology rooted in group psychology and political theory to analyze how playwrights like Aeschylus, Euripides, and Aristophanes manipulate the presence of unseen collectives to influence on-stage action. The book argues that these off-stage entities serve as proxies for the Athenian polis, reflecting contemporary anxieties regarding democracy, decision-making, and collective agency.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and students of classical drama frequently note the academic density of the prose and the rigorous application of political theory to ancient texts. Experts highlight this as a specialized resource for understanding the mechanics of audience manipulation and political discourse in the Athenian theater.
Page Count:
0
Publication Date:
1900-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press,
ISBN-10:
0191994634
ISBN-13:
9780191994630
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