Leiden University Student Repository

Wouden, Machteld van der (2017)

Alcestis in de jaren '40

Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)

During and shortly after WOII three modern adaptations of Euripides' Alcestis appeared: Le Mystère d'Alceste by Marguerite Yourcenar (1942), Alcesti di Samuele by Alberto Savinio (1949), and The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot. Alcestis' motivation to sacrifice herself and her reaction on returning to her husband turned out to be blank spots in Euripides' tragedy. The three modern writers gave their main characters three drastically different reasons and reactions. This could partly be explained by their relation to the Second World War.

Alcestis

Reception studies

Second World War

Euripides

Author

Wouden, Machteld van der

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

MA Classics

Supervisors

Sluiter, Ineke

ECTS Credits

20

Language

nl