Athena <em>ex machina</em>: Disturbing Serenity in the <em>Exodos</em> of Euripides’ <em>Suppliants</em>

Authors

  • José Manuel Blanco Mayor
Keywords: Eurípides, tragedia griega, deus ex machina, Suplicantes, logos/pathos, éxodo, etiología

Abstract

Athena’s ex machina intervention in the exodos of Euripides’ Suppliants has often been branded as irrelevant from the point of view of the action of the play. However, although it is true that it does not resolve any dramatic impasse, Euripides uses this device in order to reflect retrospectively on the conflict between logos and pathos, whose tension runs transversally through the play until its final resolution in an ominous stillness. The author raises, thus, some disturbing questions about the role of gods with regard to human fate, and about whether or not mankind is able to resolve its internal conflicts on its own. These considerations compel us to reconsider the orthodoxy of the image of gods in the Suppliants, as well as its presumably irenic ending.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
How to Cite
Blanco Mayor, J. M. (2009). Athena <em>ex machina</em>: Disturbing Serenity in the <em>Exodos</em> of Euripides’ <em>Suppliants</em>. Myrtia, 24, 61–73. Retrieved from https://revistas.um.es/myrtia/article/view/114701
Issue
Section
Artículos