Themis, a study of the social origins of Greek ... - Warburg Institute

358 Ritual Forms in Greek Tragedy
Agamemnon : in this trilogy the full Theophany is reserved for the last
play and consequently the sequence in the individual plays is upset and
confused. "We have, however, Messenger 550—680: Agon of Clytemnestra
and Agamemnon 810—975 : then the Cassandra scene, foretelling the Pathos ;
then Pathos airdyyeXov, another Agon and Threnos.
Choephori : as in other Orestes-plays we have a Threnos and Anagnorisis
quite early 165—244: Evocation of dead 315— 510: Agon (Orestes and
Clytemnestra) 674—930, with a Messenger (Exangelos) in the midst of it
875—886, combined with Pathos avrdyyeXov : Threnos, consisting of mixed
joy and woe and culminating in long speeches over the dead bodies 935
1047 : lastly a Vision of the Furies, which may possibly have involved a real
epiphany.
Eumenides: Agon 566—680, or perhaps to 750, with Athena making an
then
Aition-speech in the style of a Deus ex machina in the middle 681—710 :
new Agon with a reconciliation (886 ff.) and Peripeteia ; then great Procession
of gods. ]So Messenger. The whole play is really the Theophany of the
Oresteia trilogy.
Sophocles
:
It is especially interesting to see how Sophocles has broken
down the stiff lines of the ritual Theophany into scenes of vague
supernatural grandeur.
Oedipus Rex: fairly clear end. Agon (short but involving Anagnorisis
and Peripeteia) between Oedipus and the Herdsman 1123— 1185 : Exangelos
or Messenger with Pathos 1223— 1296: then Threnos with suggestion of
r
Oedipus s flight to Kithairon to become a Daimon (1451 ff.).
Oedipus Coloneus : Agon between Oedipus and Polynices 1254—1396 :
slight Threnos and last speech of Oedipus. This last speech is very supernatural
; it consists of prophecies and Aitia, and is spoken amid continuous
lightning and thunder (1514 f.) : then Messenger 1579— 1666, and final Threnos
over Oedipus's passing. A faded Theojmany is pretty visible here.
enormous Agon scene, Creon v. Antigone, then v. Haemon,
Antigone :
then v. Antigone again 384—943 : Tiresias bringing a kind of Discovery (?)
and Peripeteia 988— 1114 : Messenger with Pathos 1155— 1256, small Threnos :
Second Messenger (Exangelos) 1278 and greater Threnos. The Aition is
the same as that of the Septem, some Theban hero-ritual commemorating the
children of Oedipus and their unhallowed ends—the buried living and the
unburied dead.
Ajax : a curious question suggests itself. All the latter part of the play,
1046— 1401, is occupied with an Agon (in three stages, ending in a reconcilia-
tion) about the burial of Ajax. It is triumphantly decided that he is to be
buried. Is that the end ? Or was he really buried ? Was there not some
great final pomp representing the burial ?—In considering the prolonged
emphasis laid on this burial question in the Ajax, we should remember that
among the'dromena of the Aianteia was a iroum) and that the funeral bier of
Ajax pera navoTrXias KareKoanelro. (Hesych., vid. Pauly s. Aianteia.) The
play is close to the old hero-cult ; and perhaps the hero-cult itself not quite
unrelated to some " Year-ritual," if the dead hero re-appeared in the spring
flower that was marked with his name.
In any case the sequence is rather curious : Theophany at beginning
1— 133. Later on we get a much atrophied Messenger 719— 783, who foretells
the Pathos which then proceeds to follow, 815—865. Then a scene of
search and Anagnorisis 866—890 : then Threnos 891— 1040 :
Agon, Reconciliation and—on some scale or other— Funeral.
then the great
Electra : an Orestes-play, with the usual special characteristics. It begins,
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