The origin and early form of Greek tragedy (The Norton library) - Softcover

The origin and early form of Greek tragedy.

Original brochure. Zustand: Sehr gut. 127 p. From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Zustand: Minimal beschmutzter und klaffender Einband. Ansonsten im einwandfreien Zustand. / Condition: Binding minimally soiled and cracked. Otherwise in perfect condition. - Content: The solution proposed in these pages for the problem of the origin of tragedy is a radical one, or will seem so to many readers; though from another point of view it might be called conservative. It involves rejecting certain crucial pieces of evidence which are usually regarded as the foundation of all we know about the subject. But how can one hope to achieve a viable theory of the origin of tragedy if one begins by rejecting the guidance not only of the Poetics but of anthropology and religion: in short, by turning ones back on Dionysus? I will confess that doubts about the soundness of my procedure have assailed me at various times, both before the lectures were given and since. But repeated consideration of the problem has convinced me that the doubts were not really about the procedure; they were prompted by the radical divergence between my results and those reached by others, including some of the soundest and most respected scholars who have dealt with the matter. The final upshot is that I hold to the views put forward in the lectures. It seems to me that a consistent spirit and a consistent logic were at work in the creation of tragedy by Thespis and Aeschylus, whereas if one begins with Dionysuswith or without satyrsone is committed to an alleged development which is illogical, even anti-logical. And one is committed to it without necessity; for the evidence which is commonly supposed to make it necessary, that of the Poetics, is itself the product of a theory. Indeed it cannot be said too early or too often that anyone who deals with the origin of tragedy is theorizing. Aristotle theorized, and so must we; he had too few facts to do otherwise, and so have we. Thus the substance of my four lectures appears here essentially unaltered. But in preparing them for publication I found myself confronted with serious problems of length and documentation. It is all very well, for example, in an hours lecture, to sketch out the most important existing theories and suggest their weaknesses. But sketches and suggestions are not enough in a book which is submitted to the judgment of the scholarly world, especially if it challenges a widely held consensus. Hence the first chapter in particular has been considerably reworked and expanded, to cover the main theories more fully and show their bases and their implications. On the other hand, the coverage could not have been made really complete, and the intricate web of argument concerning our sources or alleged sources could not have been spread before the reader in full, without developing the chapter into a book of its own and so overbalancing the rest of the discussion. For better or worse the chapter takes a middle way; I can only hope it is a tolerable compromise within the framework of my purpose. In spite of the reworking, then, the book does not attempt to give an exhaustive treatment of every aspect of the whole subject, and the documentation, especially outside the first chapter, is correspondingly sparse. In the last chapter, for example, very little of the extensive literature on Aeschylus is cited. If my over-all point of view commends itself to other scholars, much more detailed work will need to be done on his dramaturgy. There remains the pleasant task of thanking the Martin Lecture Committee, whose invitation gave me the opportunity to expound these unorthodox ideas, and especially its secretary, my old friend Charles Murphy. A special debt of gratitude must be recorded to Professor Alfred C. Schlesinger of Oberlin, himself the author of a valuable book on tragedy in this same series, and to two unnamed readers for the Harvard University Press, all of whom read my text with care and made trenchant criticisms and many helpful suggestions. Finally, Miss Virginia Wharton and the Editorial Department of the Harvard University Press have given the book their customary exact attention and earned my best thanks. The Martin Lectures have a proud tradition of humanistic scholarship in the classical field. I hope sincerely that these chapters are not unworthy of that tradition. ISBN 9780393006568 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 135. Artikel-Nr. 1173518

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