Study Questions

• Aeschylus and the Agamemnon
• Sophocles' Philoctetes
• Euripides, Hippolytus
• Euripides' Bacchae

Aeschylus and the Agamemnon

• Why does Clytemnestra kill Agamemnon? Is there one reason or many?
• Why did Agamemnon kill Iphigeneia? (cf.lines 104-159, 184-250). Contrast this treatment to Lucretius'
• What is the curse on the house of Atreus? Who is Thyestes?
• How did Clytemnestra know the outcome of the Trojan War?
• What is the significance of the purple tapestries (lines 908 ff.)?
• How does Cassandra describe her own past and her prophetic abilities?
• Why doesn't the Chorus help Agamemnon (lines 1344-1371)?
• What is the role of Aegistheus? Is he a "tryant"?
• To what extent is the situation resolved at the end of the play? Do two wrongs make a right (in this play)?
• Who suffers and who learns in this play (cf. line 178)?
• Does 'he who does' suffer in this play (cf. line 1564)?

Sophocles' Philoctetes

• Does the attitude of the Chorus remain constant toward the sufferings of Philoctetes? Or does its opinion fluctuate?
• Trace the fluctuations in Neoptolemus as he struggles between the persuasions of "wily" Odysseus and his sense of his own nature as the son of Achilles.
• Has Sophocles chosen to substitute Neoptolemus for Diomedes in this embassy due to Neoptolemus' position as a youth on the verge of manhood? Are there mythological, as well as dramatic, reaons to justify the change in the story?
• A major concern of the play is the debate between the value of an individual's honor (being true to one's own nature) and his fidelity to a group enterprise. How is this reflected in:
  • Neoptolemus (in his attitude to the Greeks' sack of Tory and his final decision to take Philoctetes home), AND
  • Philoctetes' position between the need of the Greeks for Heracles' bow and arrows, and his own bitter resentment of Odysseus?
• Interpret the appearance of Heracles at the end of the play: why is he particularly appropriate as the deus ex machina in this context? Could other gods or goddesses have been used instead?
• How doe the heroes of the play [Neoptolemus, Philoctetes, even Odysseus] experience the standard tragic emotions of hamartia, anagnorisis, and peripeteia---or do they? Which (if any) of them exhibits hubris?

Euripides, Hippolytus

• What is Aphrodite's feeling toward Hippolytus? toward Phaedra?
• Why does Phaedra refuse to tell her troubles to the Nurse? By what argument is she persuaded?
• What does Hippolytus' speech at 616-668 tell us about him? How does this standard for female behavior compare with that of Phaedra?
• What is the dramatic function of lines 711-712? How would you evaluate the character of the Nurse?
• Why does Phaedra tell Theseus that Hippolytus raped her?
• What is Theseus' conception of man (916-920)? Compare Euripides' view of mankind with those of Aeschylus (Prometheus) and Sophocles (Oedipus).
• How would you characterize Hippolytus? Do you sympathise with him? What is the relationship of his illegitimate birth and his oath of virginity?
• What do you think Euripides expects us to think about the figures of Aphrodite and Artemis in this play? How do they compare to the figure of Zeus in Aeschylus? To Sophocles' view of the god Apollo?
• What is the function of the chorus in this play? How are their songs, including the ones sung with specific characters, relevant to the action?

Euripides' Bacchae

• Where do we see hubris in this play? Whose is the initial hamartia? Are there others? What character(s) experience anagnorisis? peripeteia?
• Consider the nature of Dionysus' religion as it is revealed to you in the Prologue: is Euripides attempting to give you a positive view of the cult? Does your opinion of the cult and of Dionysus himself change due to the actions taken in the play?
• Who is Cadmus? Why is he used as a character here, and what plot purpose(s) does he serve?
• Who is Teiresias? Ask the same questions as you did about Cadmus. See especially T.'s speech around line 300 about Maenadic frenzy.
• How reasonable or unreasonable is Pentheus' reaction against the arrival of the cult of Dionysus in Thebes? What is his position in the city? What other manner(s) might he have used to protect the city from what he perceived as a threat?
• Is Pentheus' opposition to the Dionysiac cult entirely sincere? Or does his own prurient curiosity cause some of his reaction? On the other hand, is his final hamartia (dressing up to observe the forbidden rituals) really his fault, or has he been manipulated by the god?
• How many tragedies are contained in this play? How many characters have suffered peripeteia by the end? With whom do you sympathise?
• What opinion of Dionysus and his cult does Euripides intend the audience to carry away from this play? Is it symptomatic of his view of the gods, fate and religion in general? What kind of a cult is Dionysus', as it is shown here? Would you want to join? Why or why not?
• Who is the protagonist of this play? What part(s) would the lead actor want to portray?