Search

[German version] (ἔξοδος, generally ‘departure’, ‘end’). According to Aristot. Poet. 1452b 21f., the exodos is the part of a tragedy which is not followed by a chorus ( Stasimon) (concluding act). Moving from this broad definition, it probably makes more sense to define the exodos in a narrower sense as the exit of the chorus at the end of a drama (cf. Aristoph. Vesp. 582). The most frequent form in tragedy is the ‘ ecce conclusion’: the deed and the doer are presented in a pathos-laden concluding scene (initially usually indirectly by means of a messenger's report […

[German version] (ἡ κάθαρσις; hē kátharsis). Katharsis, derived from καθαίρειν ( kathaírein, purge), generally means any type of purgation and elimination of visible (dirt) and invisible uncleanliness (religious defilement: míasma, cf. Hdt. 1,35; Aristot. Poet. 17,1455b 15). In the 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC the term was used as medical term for the removal of harmful substances from the human body or soul (LSJ, s.v. κ. II). The cultic-ritual and medical-psychological meanings have merged in Aristotle's concept of katharsis, which of old has been a matter of scholarly con…

[German version] Greek tragedian, who enjoyed success at the Dionysia several times after 468 BC (TrGF I 11). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] Tragedian from the closing years of the 5th cent. BC; according to the scholia on Aristophanes he was known for his gluttony (TrGF I 30 T 1-3). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] (Πολυχάρης/ Polychárēs). Early 4th cent. BC poet, uncertain whether of tragedy or dithyramb (DID B 6). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

(Πολίτης/ Polítēs). [German version] [1] Son of Priamus Son of the Trojan king Priamus and Hecabe. During the Trojan War, he saves his wounded brother Deiphobus (Hom. Il. 13,533 ff.). The goddess Iris appears once in his guise (ibid. 2,786 ff.). He is killed at the altar in the palace of Neoptolemus [1] (Verg. Aen. 2,526 ff.). According to Cato (Orig. fr. 54 HRR), he reaches Latium with Aeneas (Aeneas [1]) and founds the city of Politorium. Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] [2] Companion of Odysseus According to Paus. 6,6,7 ff., one of the companions of Odysseus; r…

[German version] (Σκληρίας/ Sklērías) or Sclerius (Σκλήριος/ Sklḗrios), tragic poet cited by Stobaeus (TrGF I 213), dates unknown. It is unlikely that the Skolion (PMG 890) which only Stobaeus ascribes to S. (TrGF I 213 F 5) is in fact by him (testimonies in PMG 651). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] [1] Tragedian (Τιμησίθεος; Timēsítheos). Greek tragedian, mentioned in the Suda (τ 613), not datable. According to Suda τ 613, author of 11 tragedies (TrGF I 214). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] [2] see Furius [II 5] see Furius [II 5]

[German version] (Κλεαίνετος; Kleaínetos). Tragedian (TrGF I 84), won the 3rd place at the Lenaeans in 363 BC; mocked by  Alexis as not exacting (Fr. 268 PCG), by  Philodemus (84 T 3 TrGF I) as a worse poet than Euripides. ‘Hypsipyle’ is attested as a title. Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] (Θεοδωρίδης; TheodōrÍdēs). Greek tragedian (TrGF I 78 A), took second place at the Athenian Lenaea in 363 BC with a Medea and a Phaethon (DID A 2b, 94). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] (Μόρσιμος; Mόrsimos). Son of Philocles, great-nephew of Aeschylus [1] (TrGF I 12 T 3), middle of the 5th cent. BC, oculist (TrGF I 29 T 2) and tragedian, the latter according to Aristophanes (Equ. 401, Pax 802, Ran. 151) of particularly poor quality. Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] A.Late Antiquity/ Middle Ages (CT) There is, to be sure, evidence for the existence of sporadic performances of Greek tragedies up into 4th cent. AD and plays by Plautus and Terence continued to be performed as late as the 3rd/4th. cents., but on the whole, tragedies and comedies had largely disappeared from the theatre programme of the Roman Imperial Age. The stage of that age, however, was not devoid of dramatic, sub-literary genres [5]. They included mimes, pantomimes and the fabulae cantatae, i.e. tragic isolated scenes perfor…

[German version] (Πολυφράσμων/ Polyphrásmōn). Son of Phrynichus [1], tragedian, first victory between 482 and 471 (DID A 3a, 13), successful at the Dionysia in 471  (DID A 1, 22). In 467 he is recorded as third to Aeschylus [1], who won with his Theban trilogy, and Pratinas' son Aristias [2] with his trilogy Lykourgeia (TrGF I 7). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] (στιχομυθία/ stichomythía). A form of dialogue in ancient drama in which two persons - or, more rarely, three -  speak in regular turns. It was first documented as a technical term in Poll. 4,113, but a description of the dramatic technique of 'dialogue intensification' [6] appears as early as in Aeschylos [1] (Eum. 585 f.). The origins of stichomythia are unknown (initiation rites: [8. 201], folk customs: [2. 95-106]). Under the general heading of the technique of stichomythia, sc…

[German version] (ἡ ῥῆσις/ hē rhêsis), generally 'speech' (Hom. Od. 21,291). As early as the 5th cent. BC, rhesis was a technical term for a speech in a play, especially in a tragedy (for the concept cf. Aristoph. Ach. 416, Nub. 1371, Vesp. 580, Ran. 151; Aristot. Poet. 1454a 31, 1456a 31). The length of a rhesis varies from c. 7 to over 100 verses (Eur. Ion 1122-1228, Phoen. 1090-1199, Bacch. 1043-1152). The most important function of rhḗseis in the context of the storyline is to supply information. The requisite details which are important for the storyline are frequen…

[German version] (Φανόστρατος; Phanóstratos) of Halicarnassus. Tragedian, probably successful at the Attic Lenaea in 306 BC. TrGF I 94 = DID B7. Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] (Νεόφρων; Neóphrōn) of Sicyon. Tragedian, 2nd half of 5th cent. BC; according to the Suda (TrGF I 15 T 1) the author of 120 plays, and the first to depict tutors and the torture of slaves on the stage. According to the hypothesis of Euripides' [1] ‘Medea arising from the Peripatetic tradition, the Euripidean drama is said to have derived from N. The 24 surviving verses show clear concordances with Euripides (esp. Medea's monologue in N. fragment 2, cf. Eur. Med. 1021ff., 1236ff.); …

[German version] (τὸ στάσιμον /tò stásimon; derived from the adjective stásimos, 'standing'). In the list of structural forms (μέρη/ mérē) of the tragedy (I.), Aristotle (Poet. 1452b 22-24) distinguishes - among the chorus parts - the párodos from the stasima, which he defines as chorus songs that have no anapest or trochee, thus no recited verses, which are used primarily in the parodos [1]. The term stasimon must not be understood in the sense that the chorus was 'standing' while it sang the song, rather that the chorus performed i…

[German version] (ἡ τριλογία/ hē trilogía). From Hellenistic philology onwards a term for three tragedies, without the concluding satyr play, performed during the Great Dionysia at Athens (cf. Schol. Aristoph. Ran. 1124) [1. 80]. Tetralogy; Tragedy I. Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) Bibliography 1 Pickard-Cambridge/Gould/Lewis.

[German version] (Πλειάς/ Pleiás). The 'Constellation of Seven' Greek tragic poets during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (Ptolemaeus [I 3] II Philadelphus) (285-246 BC). The list of names varies (as with those of the Seven Sages and the Seven Wonders of the World); certain are: Alexander [21] Aetolus, Lycophron [5] of Chalcis, Homerus [2] of Byzantium,  Philicus of Corcyra and Sositheus of Alexandria; also mentioned are: Sosiphanes [2] of Syracuse, Aeantides, Dionysiades of Tarsus and Euphronius…