Chapter 9 - Before the Canon: The Reception of Greek Tragedy in Hellenistic Poetry

Summary

In this chapter, the reception of Greek tragedy in Hellenistic poetry is studied in connection with intertextuality, which is here considered a specific form of reception by which later authors recognize the importance and relevance of earlier texts by alluding to them. There is a particular focus on the fragmentary plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. It shows that Callimachus, Apollonius and Theocritus used many Greek plays that are now lost. They referred to the plays’ plots or subjects, with an apparent preference for plays with Trojan, Argonautic and Argive myths, but also alluded to striking tragic imagery. Issues to which the allusions draw attention include literary criticism, generic matters, aspects of the mythological tradition and Ptolemaic ideology. All this suggests that the Alexandrian poets were familiar with the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, particularly, but not exclusively those which were of thematic interest for their own poetry. Clearly the plays which were not included in the later canon of tragedies were still an object of active reception and consulted with eagerness in the Hellenistic period.