A vehicle for performance
Subtitle: acting the messenger in Greek tragedy
By: Margaret Dickin ; illustrations by Alan Dickin.
Publisher: University Press of America
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Lanham, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 212
ISBN-13: 9780761843559
Subjects: Greek drama (Tragedy) -- History and criticism; Messengers in literature; Characters and characteristics in literature
Description: "This book investigates the transformation of the Tragic Messenger, traditionally a minor supporting character in Greek drama who brought news from off stage, into one of the leading acting roles in ancient drama. It examines the features of Messenger speeches which made them attractive acting roles, reviews the Tragic Messenger in vase paintings, and analyzes the distribution of acting roles in the extant fifth-century tragedies. The technique of masked actors playing multiple roles in the same drama permitted 'metatheatrical' linkages between these acting roles. When these linkages involved Euripides' very vivid Messenger speeches, they allowed the Tragic Messenger to become an indispensable and stereotypical part of the drama. This was not only important in the development of the tragic genre itself, but may also have led to the stock role of the Running Slave in comedy."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [149]-153) and index.