Aeschylus, Character, and the Yoke of Necessity
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A01=Mark Ringer
Aeschylus
Ancient Aesthetics
Ancient Studies
Author_Mark Ringer
Category=DB
Category=DDA
Category=DSBB
Category=QDHA
Classical studies
Drama in Performance
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_poetry
Greek Tragedy
Performance studies
Portrayal of Character
Religion
Product details
- ISBN 9781666939088
- Weight: 460g
- Dimensions: 158 x 232mm
- Publication Date: 13 Nov 2025
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Aeschylus, Character, and the Yoke of Necessity considers the works of Aeschylus in the context of the playwright’s handling of dramatic character and the conflict between freedom and compulsion. Aeschylus was an Athenian citizen during the first generation of that polis’s democratic system. As such, he and his contemporaries were encountering a kind of free agency unknown before in history. Aeschylus presents the archetype of the “tragedy of character” that will resonate throughout world literature. It is a fascinating and essential component to the conception of his drama that his protagonists each of the six plays find ways of escaping freedom in exchange for a self-imposed spiritual bondage. They “slip [their] necks into the yoke of necessity,” to borrow a pivotal line from the Agamemnon. Caught between their individual motives and the unavoidable necessity of their situation, each protagonist handles this conflict in a way that defines the specificity of their character and results in the development of the plot. This book also explores the frequently dominant position of the Aeschylean chorus.
Mark Ringer is professor of theater at Marymount Manhattan College, USA.
