The Gorgon's severed head
Subtitle: studies in Alcestis, Electra, and Phoenissae
By: by C.A.E. Luschnig.
Series: Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava.; 153
Publisher: E.J. Brill
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Leiden; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 255
Subjects: Euripides -- Criticism and interpretation.; Euripides.; Euripides.; Euripides.; Alcestis (Greek mythology) in literature.; Electra (Greek mythology) in literature.; Seven against Thebes (Greek mythology) in literature.; Women and literature -- Greece.; Tragedy.
Description: The Gorgon's Severed Head looks at three plays of Euripides, one early, one middle and one late in his career. Innovations in genre, in the use of the traditional stories, in the representation of women and of gender issues are present at every period. In all three plays characters are depicted creating themselves and each other. Chapter One on Alcestis looks at the artistry of the two main characters and is especially concerned with finding a role for Admetus, the play's most serious problem.

The second chapter treats the physical displacement of the myth in Euripides' version of the Electra-Orestes story. A last section approaches the layers of time and space in Phoenissae.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.