Bound by the City: Greek Tragedy, Sexual Difference & the Formation of the Polis

Insinuations: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Literature

by Denise Eileen McCoskey (Editor), Emily Zakin (Editor)

This collection offers a vibrant exploration of the bonds between sexual difference and political structure in Greek tragedy. In looking at how the acts of violence and tortured kinship relations are depicted in the work of all three major Greek tragic playwrights—Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—the contributors shed light on the workings and failings of the Greek polis, and explore the means by which sexual difference and the city take shape in relation to each other. The volume complements and expands the efforts of current feminist interpretations of Antigone and the Oresteia by considering the meanings of tragedy for ancient Athenian audiences while also unveiling the reverberations of Greek tragedy's formulations and dilemmas in modern political life and for contemporary political philosophy.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009