2010/01/01 by D. M. Carter · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Mathematics · #Classical Antiquity Studies #Classical Philosophy and Thought #Byzantine Studies and History #Tragedy (event) #Democracy #Greek tragedy #Argument (complex analysis) #Politics #Drama #Population #Character (mathematics) #Neglect #Function (biology) #Literature #Political science #History #Aesthetics #Sociology #Law and economics #Law #Philosophy #Art #Psychology #Mathematics
paper · doi:10.1017/s1750270500000282
openalex publication_date 2010/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
This paper looks at a relatively neglected character in Greek tragedy: the people. I cannot claim to produce a complete survey of this issue; however, I shall identify some different ways in which a tragic poet could portray a city's population, and discuss some examples. This is an important and interesting topic for two reasons, which are linked throughout, for behind my argument is the contention that a consideration of the original staging of a tragedy can help us to understand its politics. In the first place, it is instructive to ask how a poet could meet the challenge of representing the population of a city on stage; in the second, this exercise is likely to shed light on the political function of Greek tragedy. More specifically, it will shed light on the relationship between tragedy and democracy - a vexed question in recent years - for no consideration of democracy in drama can neglect the role of democracy's central player.