Different fate in different versions: sacrificed, exchanged for a deer, taken by Artemis as a priestess
Μίασμα & House of Atreus: Tantalus, Pelops, Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Menelaus
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Why Tragedy?
κάθαρσις (catharsis)- the purification and purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—through art or to any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration
internalize emotion from images as words
experience the emotion; don’t escape it
Social Commentary
City Dionysia
communal catharsis
Cautionary Tales
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Ancient Context
Euripides (480-406 BCE)
92-95 plays, 18/19 survive complete
competed in City Dionysia in 455, won in 441
won 5 times
won for Iphigenia at Aulis posthumously
Iphigenia at Aulis - last play of Euripides
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
Athens vs. Sparta
democracy vs. oligarchy
plague
30 Tyrants
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Modern Context
World War II
famine
rise of factional armies
Civil War (1946-1949)
100,000 killed
economic collapse
forcible relocations
Military Junta (1967-1974)
Regime of the Colonels
martial law
torture
suppression of culture
Invasion of Cyprus (1974)
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Film as Text
Perspective
Symbolism
Anachronism
Role of the army
Pluralism
character motivation
fate of Iphigenia
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Themes
nationalism
sacrifice
responsibility of power
family vs. state
state vs. religion
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Look For:
motion & stillness
how the prophecy changes from Calchas to Odysseus (added by Cacoyannis…why?)