Nodrizas de tragedia en la caracterización de los héroes

Resumen

The origin of tragedy, the way the play was staged, the social context involving the play itself, as well as the specific technique used by every tragedian has been deeply analysed by different scholars. In particular, there is an issue involving Greek tragedy examined from various standpoints: the tragic hero. A considerable amount of studies concerning the heroes and heroines of Greek tragedy on stage based on the primary characters per se has been published. As an example of such studies authors as Aélion, Alsina, Calvo, Carrière, De Romilly, Festugière, Hall, Irigoin, Lasso de la Vega, Lesky, Macintosh, Miralles, Murray, Rodríguez Adrados, Taplin, Willamowitz, Zimmermann can be quoted, as well as more recent studies by Calderón, Di Benedetto, Fernández-Galiano, García Gual, Gil Fernández, Guzmán Guerra, Lucas de Dios, Melero, Quijada, Rodríguez Monescillo, Ruíz de Elvira, Sommerstein, and all scholars of GRATUV (Research Group of the University of Valencia) and scholars collaborating with them that annually publish their research about Greek and Roman Theatre and its reception: Bañuls, Bernal, Fialho, López López, Morenilla, Monrós, Münster, Pociña, and Silva. Such studies show the tragic mistakes committed by the hero, the motivations and the inner traits of the character of the hero and how the tragic hero is shaped by himself. Traditionally it has been settled that, partly because of the strong evolution experimented by the tragic genre itself, the heroes appearing on Aeschylus’ plays differ from the Euripides’ heroes. Thus, the progression of the consciousness of his physis and the consequences of his action depicts the tragic hero in Aeschylus’ plays, moreover the strong influence of his lineage over himself modifies the degree of consciousness, as a result of such an influence, he does not believe that he is committing any mistake, whereas the hero in Sophocles’ plays is portrayed by his extreme pathos. Relating to Euripides’ plays, major part of the studies is focussed in heroines as Medea, Phaedra, Alcestis and Hecuba. According to these studies it can be assumed that Euripides changes the traits of the main characters according to the social context of the performance. However the intrinsic evolution of the tragic genre allowed Greek playwrights to use more characters in the plot. Greek tragedians could put on stage more characters establishing various kind of relationship between them and the primary character. The multiplicity in the number of characters leads primary (characters) to interact with secondary (characters), and as a result of such an interaction both characters are being shaped. Hence, the increasing relationship between main and secondary characters in Greek tragedy has leaded me to analyse primary characters from a new standpoint: the point of view of secondary characters, in particular, this thesis focuses on nurses and on characters that act as nurses such as the Pythia in Euripides’ Ion, as it can be inferred that nurses provide a wider understanding about the tragic heroine who is their dramatic counterpart. Having in mind, thus, that nurses from New Comedy have not any special relationship with comic hero, this thesis attempts to show how the special bond between nurse and tragic hero is exploited by tragedians to portray the main character. As a result, this thesis seeks to show new traits about tragic heroes or heroines inferred from the point of view of nurses. ? THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY: It can be settled that Eurycleia, Odysseus’ Nurse in Odyssey, is the archetype of nurses from tragedy. She is commanded to assist Odysseus and later to attend Telemachus, Odysseus’ son. Eurycleia is presented as a servant in the palace of Odysseus with special responsibilities which she could easily deal with as she has spent most part of her life serving in the oikos of Odysseus. Especially relevant is that the lineage of Eurycleia is quoted in the Homeric poem (Odyssey 19.357), and she is accurately portrayed as a loyal and diligent Nurse, trait also used by tragedians to shape tragic nurses. The rôle assumed by this Nurse is not to become the antithesis of Penelope, but to be her reflect, in fact she is showed acting as Penelope would do. Having said this, it could be inferred that the loyalty of Penelope is strengthen by the loyalty showed by Eurycleia: both women are waiting for Odysseus arrival, and both women showed their fidelity towards the authority of Odysseus, even though he is not present in the oikos. This fact is clearly pointed in the Homeric poems as posterior authors have taken Penelope as a model of the fidelity of a good wife towards her husband. Additionally, the loyalty and respect of Eurycleia towards her master Odysseus is largely highlighted through the Odyssey. Eurycleia, hence, is the archetype of nurses in tragic genre. She is depicted as an elderly woman whose age enables her to act with wide knowledge and to become the confident of her mistress Penelope. The relationship that both women maintain points out Penelope’s loyalty towards her husband. This trait is also present as a characteristic in the nurses from tragedy that in this thesis are largely analysed. Regarding nurses on stage in Greek theatre it has to be emphasised that nurses from tragedy differ from nurses from comedy, as both genres are clearly different and as consequence the characters from tragedy diverge largely from characters in comedy. Aristophanes does not use the character of the nurse in his plays, partly because his interest was to put on stage the polis and the polites. Most of the times, even, the servants on stage in Aristophanes’ plays act insolently and lazily and are shaped with the aim of making the audience to laugh. Thus, it can be assumed that Aristophanes exploit the comic traits of the servant in order to satirise the character of the slave. In contrast, it can be assumed that in Menander Comedy nurses are on stage quite often partly because of the aim of the New Comedy, which is to put on stage the oikos not the polis. At this point it has to be highlighted that while there has been much research into Menander’s plays, there has been little research into the relationship between characters in his plays. Nevertheless, it can be maintained that Menander’s plays are mainly influenced by Euripides’ plays, as a result of such an influence, nurses are on stage repeatedly, as it is stressed in chapter six. Having this idea on mind, I focussed my thesis on the nurses from Aeschylus’ Choephoroi (458 B.C.), Euripides’ Medea (431 B.C.), Hippolytus (428 B.C.), Andromache (ca. 425 B.C.), Ion (ca. 413 B.C.); and Sophocles’ Trachiniae. I analysed in-depth the character of the Nurse in each tragedy as well as the relationship she has with the tragic hero or heroine. Consequently, the evidence suggests that Greek playwrights exploit nurses with the aim of providing a more precise and reliable knowledge of the hero than any character in the play. In every chapter of this thesis, prior to undertaking the analysis of passages of the play in which Nurse is on stage, both on her own or interacting with the main character, a summary of the plot of the tragedy considered is showed, and the theme of the play described. Secondly, a study of the main sources that the tragedian might use is offered. Having in mind that translating from Greek to Spanish could lead me to further understand and reflect about the deep meaning of Greek text, I present my own translation to Spanish. All the passages in which either the nurse talks or interacts with the hero or heroine are been selected. Once every passage is deeply analysed, a discussion about the findings is showed. The conclusions of the chapters two, three and four, highlight that it seems that the character of the nurse is gradually portrayed and that becomes progressively relevant for the plot as the relationship that she maintains with the hero is gradually strengthen. Such a relationship enables nurses to develop and maintain an emotional attachment with the tragic hero, and to be aware of his inner motivations. As a consequence, nurses gain a more precise and reliable knowledge of the hero than any character in the play. They are used by Greek playwrights to provide to the chorus and to the audience such a specific knowledge about the inner motivations of the main character. Thus, the audience could shape accurately the character of the hero. All the tragedies analysed are presented according to chronological criteria. Hence, firstly Orestes’ nurse, Cilissa, from Aeschylus’ Choephoroi (458 B.C.) it is been analysed. Secondly, Medea’s Nurse from homonymous Euripides’ play (431 B.C.); thirdly, Phaedras’ nurse from Euripides’ Hippolytus (428 B.C.); fourthly, Hermiones’ Nurse in Euripides’ Andromache (ca. 425 B.C.) are studied. Fifthly, the Pythia in Euripides’ Ion (ca. 413-412 B.C.) is considered in this thesis because she acts as a nurse of Ion urged by Apollo, Ion’s real father. Finally, considering that it can be suggested that chronologically is near to Euripides’ Woman of Troy, I also provide in this thesis a study of the character which is traditionally considered as Deianiera’s Nurse from Sophocles’ Trachiniae.