Euripides, Phoenissae

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Euripides’

Phoenissae

was one of the most popular Greek tragedies in the Byzantine period, but has fallen out of favour in more recent times, and is now rarely staged. The precise date of its original production is uncertain, but scholars tend to place it between 411 and 409 BC (see Mastronarde 1994: 11-14). Like all Greek tragedies, it was produced for the festival of the Great Dionysia, and would have been staged in conjunction with two other tragedies and a satyr-play (a lighter play featuring a chorus of satyrs: mythological creatures famed for their debauchery).

Phoenissae

is set in heroic-age Thebes, after the reign of Oedipus and during the war between his sons Eteocles and Polynices: a topic which also formed the theme of Aeschylus’

Seven Against Thebes

.

The Theban myth-cycle

1520 words

Citation: Swift, Laura. "Phoenissae". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 October 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13355, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13355 Phoenissae 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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