Rivisitazioni del vanto epico del guerriero nell’Orestea

Abstract

A peculiar feature of Aeschylus’s Oresteia, a trilogy characterized by a pervasive blending and overlapping of different linguistic registers, is represented by the reprise and refunctionalisation of the boast of epic warriors on the lying body of a defeated enemy. This paper analyses how the topoi of Homeric boast are applied by Aeschylus to characters who, in different ways, either come into conflict with the epic model (Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Orestes) or are not up for it because of a disastrous unawareness of the real situation (Agamemnon). This allows the poet to cast light on essential nuances of his new dramatic construction.