Gorgias' apatē, Sophocles' Electra, and cognitive criticism
This chapter offers a fresh look at the false messenger scene in Sophocles’ Electra through the combined lenses of ancient criticism and cognitive studies. In a first step, it contends that the claims of Gorgias fr. B 23 DK correspond with insights of cognitive accounts of aesthetic experience. In i...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Chapter/Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
June 2023
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| In: |
Minds on stage
Year: 2023, Pages: 153-172 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/oso/9780192888938.003.0009 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192888938.003.0009
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| Author Notes: | Jonas Grethlein |
| Summary: | This chapter offers a fresh look at the false messenger scene in Sophocles’ Electra through the combined lenses of ancient criticism and cognitive studies. In a first step, it contends that the claims of Gorgias fr. B 23 DK correspond with insights of cognitive accounts of aesthetic experience. In its main part, the chapter reconsiders Electra in the light of Gorgias fr. B 23 DK, suggesting that the false messenger speech stages the entwinement of deception with aesthetic illusion with which Gorgias fr. B 23 DK plays. It is first shown that the messenger speech is geared towards generating a strong aesthetic illusion. Then it is argued that the very devices that serve to engross the theatre audience are simultaneously a means of deception within the play. As pointed out in the conclusion, this association of aesthetics with ethics reveals a specifically ancient approach and sheds light on the limits as well as the benefits of employing cognitive studies in classics. |
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| Item Description: | "apatē" ist im Titel in griechischen Buchstaben geschrieben Gesehen am 17.07.2024 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISBN: | 9780192888938 9780191982453 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/oso/9780192888938.003.0009 |