In the Footprints of Aeschylus: Recognition, Allusion, and Metapoetics in Euripides

Abstract

It is well known that Euripides responds to Aeschylus in several of his plays, most notably in Electra . In this article I suggest a new reading of the recognition scene in Euripides' Electra , comparing also the recognition sequence in Iphigenia among the Taurians , which alludes to the same Aeschylean model. I argue that through their allusions to Aeschylus, both scenes can be read as metapoetic reflections on the constraints and conventions of dramatic composition. The issue, therefore, is not one of criticism of or homage to Aeschylus (or Homer), as scholars have generally held. Rather I argue that Euripides presents his audience with an invitation to recognize and appreciate the poetic challenges of composing a dramatic performance, through metaphor, word-play and metapoetic suggestions. The poetic self-consciousness present in both scenes underlines the poet's awareness that he is following in the footsteps of mighty poetic predecessors.