Gorgias' apatē, Sophocles' Electra, and cognitive criticism

• Verfasst von: Grethlein, Jonas [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Gorgias' apatē, Sophocles' Electra, and cognitive criticism
• Verf.angabe: Jonas Grethlein
• E-Jahr: 2023
• Jahr: June 2023
• Umfang: 20 S.
• Fussnoten: "apatē" ist im Titel in griechischen Buchstaben geschrieben ; Gesehen am 17.07.2024
• ISBN: 978-0-19-288893-8
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Minds on stage
• Ort Quelle: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2023
• Jahr Quelle: 2023
• Band/Heft Quelle: (2023), Seite 153-172
• DOI: doi:10.1093/oso/9780192888938.003.0009
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1895609550

Abstract

This chapter offers a fresh look at the false messenger scene in Sophocles’ Electra through the combined lenses of ancient criticism and cognitive studies. In a first step, it contends that the claims of Gorgias fr. B 23 DK correspond with insights of cognitive accounts of aesthetic experience. In its main part, the chapter reconsiders Electra in the light of Gorgias fr. B 23 DK, suggesting that the false messenger speech stages the entwinement of deception with aesthetic illusion with which Gorgias fr. B 23 DK plays. It is first shown that the messenger speech is geared towards generating a strong aesthetic illusion. Then it is argued that the very devices that serve to engross the theatre audience are simultaneously a means of deception within the play. As pointed out in the conclusion, this association of aesthetics with ethics reveals a specifically ancient approach and sheds light on the limits as well as the benefits of employing cognitive studies in classics.