Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play

The paper analyses a short scene that forms part of the opening of Sophocles’ Aias (66–133): Aias, suffering from the madness that was inflicted upon him by Athena, is displayed by the goddess to Odysseus. In the corpus of extant ancient drama, this inset appears to be unique. Its expressive power...

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Main Author: Andreja Inkret
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2019-12-01
Series:Clotho
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/8866
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author Andreja Inkret
author_facet Andreja Inkret
author_sort Andreja Inkret
collection DOAJ
description The paper analyses a short scene that forms part of the opening of Sophocles’ Aias (66–133): Aias, suffering from the madness that was inflicted upon him by Athena, is displayed by the goddess to Odysseus. In the corpus of extant ancient drama, this inset appears to be unique. Its expressive power is derived from the scene’s specific structure that doubles the integral elements of theatre. The paper suggests the reasons why the scene has often been labeled “a play-within-a-play,” describing and illustrating the elements that can be paralleled with the structural components of theatre. Taking as basis concepts and ideas proposed by modern theatre theoreticians (Anne Ubersfeld, Tadeusz Kowzan, Umberto Eco), the paper argues that the essence of the performative dimension of the scene is to be found in the phenomenon of the “ostentation act” first described by Umberto Eco. Tracing the meaning of the inset within the tragedy as a whole, the paper emphasizes the fact that the “ostentation” in Aias is a divine creation, and examines how Odysseus, a privileged recipient of the spectacle, reacts to the display of Aias’ shameful condition.
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spelling doaj.art-40ecca6f81f04b69a41891fa959a8e092023-01-18T09:21:51ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Clotho2670-62102670-62292019-12-011210.4312/clotho.1.2.17-33Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a PlayAndreja Inkret0University of Ljubljana The paper analyses a short scene that forms part of the opening of Sophocles’ Aias (66–133): Aias, suffering from the madness that was inflicted upon him by Athena, is displayed by the goddess to Odysseus. In the corpus of extant ancient drama, this inset appears to be unique. Its expressive power is derived from the scene’s specific structure that doubles the integral elements of theatre. The paper suggests the reasons why the scene has often been labeled “a play-within-a-play,” describing and illustrating the elements that can be paralleled with the structural components of theatre. Taking as basis concepts and ideas proposed by modern theatre theoreticians (Anne Ubersfeld, Tadeusz Kowzan, Umberto Eco), the paper argues that the essence of the performative dimension of the scene is to be found in the phenomenon of the “ostentation act” first described by Umberto Eco. Tracing the meaning of the inset within the tragedy as a whole, the paper emphasizes the fact that the “ostentation” in Aias is a divine creation, and examines how Odysseus, a privileged recipient of the spectacle, reacts to the display of Aias’ shameful condition. https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/8866Greek dramaSophoclesAiastheatre theoryplay-within-a-playtheatricality
spellingShingle Andreja Inkret
Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play
Clotho
Greek drama
Sophocles
Aias
theatre theory
play-within-a-play
theatricality
title Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play
title_full Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play
title_fullStr Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play
title_full_unstemmed Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play
title_short Aias Mastigophoros: Divine Ostentation within a Play
title_sort aias mastigophoros divine ostentation within a play
topic Greek drama
Sophocles
Aias
theatre theory
play-within-a-play
theatricality
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/8866
work_keys_str_mv AT andrejainkret aiasmastigophorosdivineostentationwithinaplay