ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5016-7732
Date of Award
Summer 8-2024
Degree Name
Master of Arts (AM/MA)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
This thesis studies the use and depiction of women's music in three plays of Euripides. Chapter One looks at the intersection of music, magic, and gender in Medea, linking the chorus' discussion of muse-granted female sophia (wisdom, authoritative knowledge) to Medea's skill in magic. Chapter Two proposes a novel interpretation of the first stasimon of Trojan Women, arguing that the famous kainoi hymnoi of line 512 -- translated here as "new and woeful songs" -- are emblematic of the play's depiction of lament. Chapter Three examines various ways in which the choral odes of Bacchae reflect the threatening power of the god Dionysus. In each of these works, I find that Euripides uses women's music to explore important thematic material. This result contradicts gendered criticisms of Euripides and other New Musical poets, whose work has been attacked by critics both ancient and modern as insubstantial, incoherent, and effeminate. A brief conclusion looks at the connection between women's music and emotion, suggesting that Euripides interrogates music's power to act persuasively on the emotions of others.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Dr. Rebecca Sears
Committee Members
Dr. Timothy Moore Dr. Zoe Stamatopoulou
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Christopher, "The Ambivalent Muse: Women's Music in Euripides" (2024). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3329.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/3329