Papers by Cristiana Lucidi
Melita Classica, 2022
The self-sacrifice of a virgin recurs several times in Euripides’ plays. In each occasion it foll... more The self-sacrifice of a virgin recurs several times in Euripides’ plays. In each occasion it follows a formula involving a crisis which can be overcome only thanks to a human sacrifice. The main feature of Euripides’ staging of self-sacrifice is the consent of the victim, which let the sacrificial virgin move from an entirely passive to an active role. Consent becomes a free choice, and a death which should involve the submission of the victim becomes a voluntary self-sacrifice that can be assimilated to the masculine ideal of beautiful death. However, we should not give in to the temptation of thinking that Euripides’ stance is a sort of feminism ante litteram. Although Euripidean female characters seem like agents, they are actually played by men. The self-sacrificing virgins only reassert the masculine warrior code in the name of which they are giving their youth and beauty. Moreover, their death is meant to save the community of men, re-establishing the supremacy of the male component of the society. In light of this, the aim of the present paper is to demonstrate that the character of Polyxena in the Hecuba, despite possessing all the features of the perfect sacrificial virgin, nevertheless makes an exception, stepping out of the female world and dangerously threatening the patriarchal establishment of the Argives. Indeed, her attitude is not that of the prudish virgin who gives her life to protect the community of men and reassert their supremacy, like Iphigenia in Iphigenia at Aulis. Polyxena is surprisingly bold and fierce, and faces up her sacrificers, who are enemies of her city as well, like a warrior on the battlefield. In any case, she does not fight for her life, trying to get the better of her opponent: to her, death is victory, and the glory that comes with it constitutes the right allotment of τιμή and γέρας as a tribute to her valour. She is not merely given away to the masculine world: she actually appropriates of the manly ἀρετή which should be the prerogative of the male hero. Thus, Polyxena dies like a woman, being slaughtered on the sacrificial altar, but faces death like a man, falling under the blows of her enemy with courage, dignity, and pride. This ambiguity makes Polyxena blur the dividing line between sexes and questions a binary conception of heroism and gender.
Uploads
Papers by Cristiana Lucidi