The Agon in Euripides

by: Lloyd, M.

 This book is a study of the agon, or formal debate, in Euripides' tragedies. In these scenes, two characters confront each other, sometimes before an arbitrator or judge, and make long speeches as if they were opponents in a lawcourt. An agon is to be found in most of Euripides' extant plays, and is often of crucial importance in representing the central conflict of the play. Many of Euripides' most characteristic features are to be found in these scenes--including rhetorical skill, brilliance in argument, and interest in philosophy. This book offers a general account of the formal debate in Euripides, including a contrast with the agon in Sophocles, and contains an extended discussion of Euripides' relationship to fifth-century rhetorical theory and practice. The main body of the book, however, is devoted to interpretations of the more important agones, giving special attention to their dramatic context and function

1. The Nature and Function of the Agon
2. Rhetoric and Euripides' Agones
3. Early Agones: Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Andromache
4. Electra
5. Political Debates: Heraclidae, Supplices, Phoenissae
6. Hecuba and Troades
7. Orestes

Subjects:
Agon
Agon (The Greek word)
Contests in literature
Debates and debating in literature
Débats et controverses Dans la littérature
Débats et controverses dans la littérature
Débats et controverses dans la littérature grecque
Euripide, (0480-0406 av. J.-C.) Technique
Euripides
Euripides Criticism and interpretation
Euripides Technique
Greek drama
Mythologie grecque dans la littérature
Mythology, Greek, in literature
Rhetoric, Ancient
Rhétorique ancienne
Technique
Tragedies
Tragedy
Tragédie
tragedies

vii, 145 pages ; 23 cm

The Agon in Euripides

by: Lloyd, M.

• ISBN-13: 9780198147787 / 978-0-19-814778-7
• ISBN-03: 0198147783 / 0-19-814778-3
• Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992