Publication: Fear and Healing Through the Serpent Imagery in Greek Tragedy
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2015-10-15
Authors
Published Version
Published Version
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you.
Citation
Dasteridou, Magdalini. 2015. Fear and Healing Through the Serpent Imagery in Greek Tragedy. Master's thesis, Harvard Extension School.
Research Data
Abstract
This work explores how the tragic poets, by means of snake imagery, convey the notion of disease. Moreover, it examines how snake imagery contributes to the process of healing through the emotion of fear that it triggers. My analysis of the tragedies in which the three main tragedians employ snake imagery builds upon findings from ancient authors that refer to snakes and their characteristics, and upon the findings of contemporary scholars. My overall method relies on tools from structuralism and psycholinguistics. Through snake imagery the tragic poets portray disease as it manifests itself through arrogance, deception, physical pain, and madness. For this purpose the poets employ images inspired by the particular anatomy and behavior of the snake.
Within the context of tragedy, and through the fear that it triggers, the snake imagery encourages self-knowledge and healing through self-correction.
Description
Other Available Sources
Keywords
Literature, Classical, Anthropology, Cultural, Language, Ancient
Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material (LAA), as set forth at Terms of Service