The Body and the Senses in Greek Tragedy

The Body and the Senses in Greek Tragedy is the first book to approach the corporeality of Greek drama in terms of its capacity to involve audiences in the construction of meaning, not only on an affective but also on an intellectual level. Afroditi Angelopoulou argues that the inner workings of theatre, and the reasons behind its effectiveness, can be located in the lived, sentient body as the root of human thought, experience, and awareness.

Drawing on theories of embodiment, theatre, and performance studies, this study shows that investigating the playwrights’ sustained and varied use of elements of corporeality is essential for uncovering the meaning of tragic narratives, whether experienced in live performance or as a text. Through close readings of select plays, Angelopoulou explores the intricate connections between sensory experience, language, physical movement, and affect, focusing on the way inter-corporeal processes unfold on the stage and within the theatre space. She demonstrates how thinking with and through the body can ultimately encourage the spectator, as well as the reader, to participate in the act of sense-making. Each chapter traces distinct somatic themes, indicating how these contribute to a play’s aesthetics, ethics, and narrative arc.

By employing the human sensorium as a hermeneutic device, The Body and the Senses in Greek Tragedy offers a compelling methodology for studying language, subjective experience, and performance reception in Greek drama.

Afroditi Angelopoulou is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Southern California.