A Tragic Anti-War Interpretation of Euripides’ Iphigenia Among the Taurians

Abstract

A far away and strange land, a story surrounded by mystery, and a great and perfect happy ending have been considered by most scholars as a proof for the following point: Iphigenia among the Taurians is not a real tragedy. This paper focuses on demonstrating the opposite. It is generally acknowledged that we are faced with an evasive melodrama, almost novel on stage, which shows us how Euripides was just trying to create good entertainment for his audience, forgetting the main objective in Greek tragedy, overlooking the wish to show a universal truth through the symbol within the myth. However, we suggest that an in-depth study of the resources used by Euripides, as well as a new reading, free from pre-conceived ideas, can reveal some really tragic elements inside the story, a spectacle full of phóbos, éleos and kátharsis: and a deep, painful, woeful message, screaming against the Peloponnesian War. Thus, we aim for a revision of Euripidean theatre, which is more human and less scientific, more closely related to its historical context and a somewhat less bound to modern preconceptions and analyses.