ABSTRACT

This volume brings together a group of interdisciplinary experts who demonstrate that Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes is a text of continuing relevance and value for exploring ancient, contemporary and comparative issues of war and its attendant trauma. The volume features contributions from an international cast of experts, as well as a conversation with a retired U.S. Army Lt. Col., giving her perspectives on the blending of reality and fiction in Aeschylus’ war tragedies and on the potential of Greek tragedy to speak to contemporary veterans. This book is a fascinating resource for anyone interested in Aeschylus, Greek tragedy and its reception, and war literature.

chapter 1|7 pages

Aeschylus and war

part I|61 pages

Modern perspectives

chapter 2|19 pages

Aeschylus on war

A conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Janowsky

chapter 3|19 pages

Aeschylus, gangland Naples, and the Siege of Sarajevo

Mario Martone’s Teatro di Guerra 1

chapter 4|21 pages

Thebes as high-collateral-damage target

Moral accountability for killing in Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes

part II|102 pages

Ancient perspectives

chapter 5|18 pages

Greek armies against towns

Siege warfare and the Seven against Thebes 1

chapter 8|23 pages

Fathers and sons in war

Seven against Thebes, Pythian 8, and the polemics of genre

part III|29 pages

The destruction of Thebes, ancient and modern

chapter 9|11 pages

Aeschylus and the destruction of Thebes

What did Apollo’s oracle mean?