Klytaimnestra's Dream
"Prophecy in Sophokles' "Elektra
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3939688 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Laurel Bowman (0000-0002-6146-0356, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 131 |
| Publication date | 1997-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Phoenix (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1088491 |
| OpenAlex | W2322747485 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 5 |
THERE ARE TWO PROPHECIES in Sophokles' Elektra: the oracle of Apollo to Orestes, and the dream of Klytaimnestra. Both prophecies are in different ways used to emphasize the political theme underlying the play and to enforce or reinforce the re-establishment of the proper and legally constituted political order, the rule of the Atreidai over Mykenai. Characters who are not necessary for the transfer of political power are not mentioned in the prophecies and are marginalized in the closure of the play. Closure in tragedy is frequently produced by the fulfilment of prophecy (cf. Roberts 1984: 27-38) and, according to some critics, by exclusion of the feminine.1 In the Elektra the two are united: fulfilment of the prophecies of the play, the oracle of Apollo and the dream of Klytaimnestra, entails exclusion of the feminine, in the person of Klytaimnestra, who is dead, and Elektra, whose primary act, lamentation for her father, has been finally rendered unnecessary. As Froma Zeitlin points out, functionally women are never an end in themselves in Greek tragedy, though they may occupy center stage. They function, however, as adjuncts, as catalysts, agents, blockers, destroyers, or, as in the Elektra, assistants to the males whose concerns define the play (Zeitlin 1990: 69).2 The enormous emotional impact of the play is the product of the central role of Elektra, which acts as a vehicle for the representation of the passions raised by abuse, grief, and the desire for vengeance; but these emotions are ultimately represented as a hindrance to the very vengeance Elektra longs for, and her marginalization is represented as necessary to the fulfilment of the prophecies at the end of the play. Scholarship on the Elektra has tended to divide into two groups, and pessimists, primarily over the evaluation of the revenge of Orestes. The optimists hold that the play shows the carriage of justice and the punishment of evil, that Orestes is justified, and that his actions bring not only justice, but Elektra's salvation and happiness. The pessimists argue that Orestes is not justified in the matricide, that the tone of the play is unreservedly dark, that
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| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,11 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2024 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |