ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at some of the ways in which Euripides prepares for entrances and the role they play in his dramas. The presence or absence of an announcement does not determine or indicate whether or not the entrance is surprising. Surprise depends on preparation, and preparation varies in degree and kind. In Hel, after an initial recognition, Menelaos, unaware of the phantom Helen and distrusting his eyes, doubts that the woman before him is, in fact, his wife, and begins to head back to the ships. In the prologue, Elektra explains that he, the hope for Orestes and herself, has arrived and is expected, and her opening speech closes with her looking for his arrival. Several times in Euripides an entrance is preceded by no specific preparation, but a situation has developed that requires the arrival of this character. These entrances are surprises, and they also satisfy a dramatic need.
