{"title":"Aiola Nux: The Musical Design Of Sophocles' Trachiniae","authors":"Anna Conser","doi":"10.1353/are.2024.a925540","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abstract:</p><p>In the original performance of Sophocles’ <i>Trachiniae</i>, song and dance were essential in communicating dramatic theme and character. Tragic <i>choreia</i> is structurally defined by paired stanzas: the antistrophe repeats the melody of the strophe but reverses its direction of dance. In <i>Trachiniae</i>, this antistrophic structure becomes thematic, representing the fateful bond between Deianeira and Heracles and the resulting narrative repetitions/reversals. Digital analysis of pitch accents reveals that this musical metaphor was reinforced melodically through the development of a “shimmering” circumflex motif, culminating in Heracles’ melismatic monody. Through this musical framing, Sophocles situates his tragedy in relation to other genres (epic, paean) and to musical developments in the fifth century.</p></p>","PeriodicalId":44750,"journal":{"name":"ARETHUSA","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ARETHUSA","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/are.2024.a925540","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"CLASSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:
In the original performance of Sophocles’ Trachiniae, song and dance were essential in communicating dramatic theme and character. Tragic choreia is structurally defined by paired stanzas: the antistrophe repeats the melody of the strophe but reverses its direction of dance. In Trachiniae, this antistrophic structure becomes thematic, representing the fateful bond between Deianeira and Heracles and the resulting narrative repetitions/reversals. Digital analysis of pitch accents reveals that this musical metaphor was reinforced melodically through the development of a “shimmering” circumflex motif, culminating in Heracles’ melismatic monody. Through this musical framing, Sophocles situates his tragedy in relation to other genres (epic, paean) and to musical developments in the fifth century.
期刊介绍:
Arethusa is known for publishing original literary and cultural studies of the ancient world and of the field of classics that combine contemporary theoretical perspectives with more traditional approaches to literary and material evidence. Interdisciplinary in nature, this distinguished journal often features special thematic issues.