Divorare gli dei. Un'interpretazione della tragedia greca

by Jan Kott

Un'interpretazione dei capolavori del teatro greco, da parte di un grande intellettuale del Novecento, armato delle conoscenze che la sociologia, la psicologia, l'antropologia, la storia delle religioni forniscono. Gli accostamenti si succedono densi e vertiginosi: Prometeo, Beckett, le Baccanti, Levi Strauss, Sofocle, il teatro dell'assurdo in una serie di arbitrarietà apparenti, il cui valore d'uso si dimostra immediato. Dietro il grande canovaccio di regia c'è tutto l'autore, con i libri che ha letto e le idee che gli sono servite da stimolo.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Criticism, Greece, Mythology

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While conventional scholarship on classical Greek texts typically involves employing the historical background as a way of fixing the meaning of the text, and the details of the text as an approach to establishing the realities of that historical context, Kott’s book on Greek tragedy is the work of a director passionate about the theatre and for whom the plays are powerful rhetorical performances addressed to a theatregoing audience. For him, as much as they are signifiers of an ancient past, the plays are also (as are William Shakespeare’s, as Kott argues in another book) contemporary to us, the modern-day readers.

As a director, Kott is interested in the emotional content of the plays and in the opportunities the plays supply for innovation even as they call attention to the traditions out of which they emerge; thus, in his discussion, along with references to Homer and to conventions of the Greek stage, he also refers to such modernist and experimental directors as Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski and Antonin Artaud.

While Kott interprets the plays he discusses primarily through (or so it seems to me) the mythical and theatrical traditions, in fact his thought moves with equal facility through a variety of discourses, whether these be the scholarly commentary of classicists like Maurice Bowra and H.D.F. Kitto, the work of classical historians like Herodotus and Plutarch, or the folk traditions to which the plays make reference. In his chapter on Euripides’s Alcestis, for instance, Kott characterizes the play as a “tragicomedy” and traces the term to its classic source in Plautus; this is followed by a reference to the "Cambridge School,” a discussion of the depiction of death in folktales and Renaissance art, an interpretation of what might be thought of as the semiotics of Euripides’s play, and a comment on the conventions of role distribution in classic Greek theatre (the latter had me thinking of Luis Bunuel’s experiments in casting in his film That Obscure Object of Desire). In his employment of a variety of texts and traditions in these interpretations of works of classical tragedy, Kott’s approach seems frequently to resemble the "New Historicism,” a contemporary
form of criticism perhaps most closely associated with Stephen Greenblatt.

Acquired 1991
The Word, Montreal, Quebec

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing book, so well researched. The whole time I got the feeling the person behind the text was incredibly knowledgeable in so many subjects. Greek tragedies are methodically dissected so we can assess it from diferent angles. Kott compares different versions of a same tragedy and the myth that the story originated from; he explains the relevance the story had back when it was written and staged and how the tragedy was nourished by the current events of that time. There's also great attention paid to how the play was played on the stage, the meaning of the masks used and how some characters were played by same actors. I personally enjoyed the times when the author mentioned psychoanalytic concepts and explained symbolic meanings present in the stories.
A incredible complete study, yet Kott turned all that research into a very readable book. Anytime I felt things were getting hard to understand there was always a note to help clear things out. One of the best books I've read on the subject.

[August · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone who would like to get a better handle on the tragedy genre. I will circle back to this and give a more in depth write up.

[Stephen Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outstanding explanation of Greek theatre in the cultural context it was viewed.

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once trendy criticism: anachronistic references and structuralist tropes.

[Thomas]

Jan Kott is a rock star.

[Bahman Bahman]

عناوین کتاب:

پیشگفتار مترجمان بر چاپ دوم
پیشگفتار مترجمان
مقدمه
محور عمودی (کیهان)، یا ابهام پرومته
آژاس سه بار فریبخورده، یا فرّ قهرمانی نامعقول
آلسست مستور
«کوآن هراکلس مشهور؟»
الف) چهره‌های هراکلس
ب) سوفکل تلخ‌نگر یا گردش سموم
ج) آه، سنگ بودن
د) فیلوکتتس، یا استنکاف
تناول خدایان یاباکی
پیوستها
مده آ در پسکارا
اورست. الکترا، هملت
یادداشتها
نمایه
فهرست اعلام

[fake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best book cover ever.

An attempt to discover "trageme" (like Levi-Strauss's mytheme) through analysis of ancient greek drama. Trageme is "the smallest structural unit of tragic opposition". Without knowing plots of dramas it is kinda hard to grasp most of the author's ideas. Sadly this is my case.

[Gala · Rating 5 out of 5]

even more genius on a second read

[Billy Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jan Kott has the authority of a scholar with a vital imagination connecting Greek tragedy to current life and art. This book is dazzling as was "My Dinner With Andre" on first viewing. Kott speaks his subject with the familiarity of one who has eaten and become what he describes. Really cool. This is an astonishingly eloquent personal review of Greek tragedy. Peter Brook and Roman Polanski were influenced by this book.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very profound book but I could tell right away I needed to read it more than once to really absorb its arguments.

[Carola Cerminara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saggio completo, esaustivo e spesso anche poetico a suo modo