Dareios, Clytaemestra and Polydorus, ghost characters in Greek tragedy with something to say
Keywords:
Ghost characters, Greek tragedy, Dramatic conception, ClassificationAbstract
The Greek tragedies that have been preserved in their entirety include only three ghost characters with speakings parts in the plays. In spite of Homeric influence, there is an completely dramatic conception of the character rather than presenting it as part of a dream. The presence of the ghost characters in the tragedies where they appear is fundamental: Dareios in The Persians, converted into a hero, provides a religious explanation for Xerxes’ defeat; in the Eumenides, Clytaemestra, with her spectre, contributes to the association between man and divinity, transforming the human problem raised in the play into a conflict between gods; Polydorus in Hecabe provides unity to the play and presents a relection on how a person dies with or without honour. The limited presence of ghost characters in the Greek Tragedy says much about the Western philosophical conception focused on this life.
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