1.5. Social, Political and Religious Themes in Tragedy

• Modern Scholarship: Euripides

  Since Aristophanes’ portrayal in Frogs, Euripides has often been described as a writer who undermined traditional belief in the gods. Many scholars have accepted this depiction, and have read Euripides’ plays as espousing unorthodox or even atheistic ideas. However, others have argued against this. In exploring these ideas, Euripides is drawing on debates among Athenian intellectuals about religion. The group of thinkers who espoused these views are often known as the sophists. 
• Modern scholarship: culture


  The relationship of Greek tragedy to the democratic culture that produced it has been hotly debated by scholars. Some have seen tragedy’s role as fundamentally subversive. Others have argued that tragedy affirms the core values shared by the Athenian audience, while a third group have tried to detach tragedy from it political contexts together 
• Prescribed source: red figure ‘maenad’ stamnos by Dinos Painter

  Object: red-figure stamnos (wine vessel)

  Artist: the Dinos Painter

  Location: Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Naples 

  Date: late 5th century BC

  Significance: a portrayal of Dionysiac ritual 
• Prescribed source: the death of Pentheus, red-figure kylix attributed to Douris  

  Object: red-figure kylix (drinking cup)

  Location: Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

  Date: c. 480 BC

  Significance: a depiction of Pentheus’ death that long pre-dates Euripides’ account