Marriage to Death: The Conflation of Wedding and Funeral Rituals in Greek Tragedy

Rush Rehm

Published by Princeton University Press 1994

Marriage to Death

The Conflation of Wedding and Funeral Rituals in Greek Tragedy

Rush Rehm

Volume 5262 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691194479

Overview
Contents

About this book

The link between weddings and death—as found in dramas ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Lorca's Blood Wedding—plays a central role in the action of many Greek tragedies. Female characters such as Kassandra, Antigone, and Helen enact and refer to significant parts of wedding and funeral rites, but often in a twisted fashion. Over time the pressure of dramatic events causes the distinctions between weddings and funerals to disappear. In this book, Rush Rehm considers how and why the conflation of the two ceremonies comes to theatrical life in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophokles, and Euripides. By focusing on the dramatization of important rituals conducted by women in ancient Athenian society, Rehm offers a new perspective on Greek tragedy and the challenges it posed for its audience.
The conflation of weddings and funerals, the author argues, unleashes a kind of dramatic alchemy whereby female characters become the bearers of new possibilities. Such as formulation enables the tragedians to explore the limitations of traditional thinking and acting in fifth-century Athens. Rehm finds that when tragic weddings and funerals become confused and perverted, the aftershocks disturb the political and ideological givens of Athenian society, challenging the audience to consider new, and often radically different, directions for their city.
Rush Rehm is Assistant Professor of Drama and Classics at Standford University and a free-lance theater director. He is the author of Greek Tragic Theatre (Routledge) and Aeschylus' Oresteia: A Theatre Vision (Hawthorn).

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ILLUSTRATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
A NOTE TO THE READER Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
ABBREVIATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. FIFTH-CENTURY MARRIAGE AND FUNERAL RITES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Chapter 2. WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS THE VISUAL RECORD Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
Chapter 3. THE BRIDE UNVEILED MARRIAGE TO DEATH IN AESCHYLUS’ AGAMEMNON Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
Chapter 4. THE BRIDE AND GROOM OF DEATH SOPHOKLES’ ANTIGONE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
Chapter 5. FROM DEATH BED TO MARRIAGE BED SOPHOKLES’ TRACHINIAE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
Chapter 6. THE BRIDE FROM THE GRAVE EURIPIDES’ ALKESTIS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
Chapter 7. TORCHING THE MARRIAGE EURIPIDES’ MEDEA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Chapter 8. FOLLOWING PERSEPHONE EURIPIDES’ SUPPLICES AND HELEN Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
Chapter 9. WAR BRIDES AND WAR DEAD EURIPIDES’ TROADES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
CONCLUSION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
Appendix A. THE ANAKALUPTERIA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
Appendix B. MEDEA 1056-80 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Appendix C. HELPING FRIENDS AND HARMING ENEMIES IN MEDEA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
GLOSSARY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239