Hellenistic Tragedy

Already by the mid-eighteenth century J. J. Winckelmann was of the opinion that the Hellenistic period was a decadent era of the brilliance of Greece, and that ipso facto all the forms of art which flourished during this time testify to the decline of the classical aesthetic. In the case of tragedy, in contrast with visual arts or poetry and prose, such an opinion held sway for a very long time. Critical attitudes to post-classical drama in any case have their origins in a much earlier time––those who disapproved of certain changes in the genre included both Aristophanes and Aristotle, and Hellenistic scholars themselves held up the three tragedians––Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides––as peerless literary exemplars which by default placed later playwrights into a position of potential inferiority. It is therefore unsurprising that Hellenistic tragedy remained marginal to the interests of philologists and theater historians. Currently scholars display a growing interest in the Hellenistic drama and show that stage genres not only enjoyed increasing interest, but that they underwent constant changes, adapting to new conditions and to the changing tastes of the audience. The greatest problem with research into Greek drama is its state of preservation. In the case of post-classical tragedy we only have at our disposal fragments preserved either in the works of other authors or those found on papyri. Those conducting research on Hellenistic tragedy should remember that this period encompasses three centuries, during which this genre must have undergone transformations which are difficult for us to define due to a lack of sufficient evidence. We can without doubt distinguish the first fifty years of the era, which coincides with the activity of the so-called Tragic Pleiad and, most probably, of Moschion. The extant fragments are characterized by their formal perfection, they are stylistically refined and may serve as examples of sophisticated dramatic poetry. Multi-genre tragedy writers are an interesting phenomenon of the Hellenistic period. In previous eras tragedians usually adhered to one stage genre, but from the end of the fourth century, writers with broad interests were also composing tragedies. To this group belong: Lycophron, Alexander Aetolus, Philicus of Corcyra, and Sositheus, as well as philosophers: Timon of Phlius, Diogenes of Sinope, and Diogenes of Tarsus. However, at the end of the fourth century the theater became a professional environment. The performance of plays and the organization of the festival were in the hands of specialist stage artists called technitai). Many authors of Hellenistic tragedy are known to us exclusively from honorific inscriptions or from lists of winners of the dramatic contests. We usually know nothing further about these authors.