Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris

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Iphigenia among the Taurians

, produced

ca

. 414, is a play that ends happily for its protagonists Orestes, Iphigenia, and Pylades. For moderns that would make it not a tragedy but a tragicomedy. But for the ancient Athenians it was a

tragôidia

, that is a play about the figures of myth (this distinguishes it from a

komôidia

, which is about the comic poet’s contemporaries) and also does not have a chorus of satyrs (this distinguishes it from a

drama satyrikon

or satyr play, the burlesque on heroic themes presented as the fourth of the four plays a tragic poet presented at the Dionysia). In fact, Aristotle in his

Poetics

cites

Iphigenia among the Taurians

as a model for tragic poets almost as often as he cites

Oedipus the King

. The important thing in an ancient tragedy is not that it…

1636 words

Citation: Kovacs, David. "Iphigenia in Tauris". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13360, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13360 Iphigenia in Tauris 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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