3. The Recognition Scene

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the recognition scene between Electra and Orestes. In particular, we think about Euripides’ rejection of previous treatments of the scene in favour for something altogether more touching and down-to-earth.

Course

In this course, Professor Judith Mossman (University of Nottingham) explores Euripides’ Electra, a play which depicts a brother and sister avenging their father’s death by killing their own mother. As we move through the course, we think about a number of issues, including: earlier treatments of the figure of Electra by Aeschylus and Sophocles, the characterisation of Electra and Clytemnestra, the scene in which Electra recognises her long-lost brother, the role of the Chorus in the play, and the meaning of the ending.

Lecturer

Judith Mossman is Professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham, and was formerly a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Woldingham, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and was a governor of Woldingham School from 1990-93. She is the author of two books and a number of edited volumes and articles on Euripides and Plutarch, and frequently gives talks on classical subjects to schools and summer schools. From 2005-9 she was Chair of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) Classical Civilisation Committee.