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Athena/Athens on Stage: Athena in the Tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles

Kennedy, Rebecca Futo
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1053353618

Abstract Details

2003, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Classics.
By 440 BC, the Athenians had created an empire for themselves with Athena, patron of their city, as patron of the empire. This dissertation discusses the dynamic relationship between Athena and her city and how the Athenians negotiated their role as imperialists by characterizing her on stage. Understanding Athena in this way shapes how we understand changes in Athenian hegemony. As the nature of Athenian power shifted so too did the way Athena was presented. The implications behind this understanding are that the more ruthless aspects of Athenian imperialism belong not to the post-Periclean period, but begin to emerge in the 470’s and 460's. The tragedians themselves are aware of the changing nature of Athenian power and used their plays as platforms from which to comment on imperial policies. Athena stands, I argue, within the plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles as a symbol for contemporary Athens and her empire. Aeschylus’ plays on the surface both support Athenian hegemony and help create a favorable image of that hegemony. He creates an idealized image of Athens that could be used as support for the empire by portraying Athena and Athens as the source of a system of justice superior to other systems. This endorsement of legal dominance also lends itself readily as a confirmation of the military dominance of Athens. In the character of Athena Aeschylus creates a paradigm both for Athenian imperial and democratic ideology. Sophocles presents Athena in two plays through which he both supports and questions Athenian power. In Ajax Locrus, Athena appears similarly to Aeschylus’ Athena. She, while having strong grounds for punishing Lesser Ajax, opts instead for a trial by jury. This is similar to the portrayal found in Aeschylus' Eumenides and in the legal documents from the fifth century that connect Athena to courtroom justice. This changes in Sophocles’ Ajax. For here Athena embodies those very elements of punishment that she worked so hard to suppress in Eumenides. She, like the empire she now represents in the mid fifth century, is concerned with authority at the expense of true justice and the freedom of others.
June Allison (Advisor)
212 p.
Athens; Athenian Empire; Athena; Greek Tragedy; Aeschylus; Sophocles; Oresteia; Ajax; Delian League

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kennedy, R. F. (2003). Athena/Athens on Stage: Athena in the Tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1053353618

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kennedy, Rebecca. Athena/Athens on Stage: Athena in the Tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles. 2003. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1053353618.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kennedy, Rebecca. "Athena/Athens on Stage: Athena in the Tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1053353618

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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