Essays

Tragische verantwoordelijkheid in het vroege Griekse drama: Daadkracht en daimones in Aeschylus’ 'Zeven tegen Thebe'

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Abstract

This essay examines early Greek tragedy’s inquiry into the scope of human agency under the influence of decidedly superhuman forces. Specifically, it aims at a reassessment of the notion of tragic responsibility in Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes through an investigation of the literary techniques with which it is depicted. A brief presentation of the role of the gods in Greek tragedy and of the developing notion of responsibility is followed by an analysis of the play in which specific attention is given to shifts in the play’s vocabulary and its systematic use of metaphor. As such, it sheds light on the ways in which tragedy’s exemplary tension between the human and the divine is successfully foregrounded in one of the genre’s very first extant exponents.

How to Cite:

Van den Brande, S., (2016) “Tragische verantwoordelijkheid in het vroege Griekse drama: Daadkracht en daimones in Aeschylus’ 'Zeven tegen Thebe'”, Tetradio 25(1): 11, 265–285. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tetradio.91859