IL RACCONTO A TEATRO I PERSIANI DI ESCHILO, ALCESTI DI EURIPIDE

Abstract

This paper analyses two outstanding examples of a well-known dramatic tool found in ancient Greek drama,
the messenger’s speech. The first case examined is the long speech by the messenger in Aeschylus’ Persians,
reporting the defeat of Xerxes’ army at Salamis. The analysis demonstrates that the speech interweaves narrative
and dramatic aims, by interacting with the reactions of Atossa and the Chorus while it unfolds, and
by combining different time perspectives, by means of a skillful managing of verb tenses. The second case
analysed is the maiden’s speech in Euripides’ Alcestis, describing the protagonist’s last day. The paper zeroes
in on the seeming contradiction between ll. 299-308 (Alcestis’ request to her husband not to marry another
woman) and ll. 177-182 (Alcestis’ resignation to the husband’s new marriage), and aims to explain the relationship
between the two passages by means of reference to the narrative status of the messenger’s speech.