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Chapter 2 - Io’s Dance

Human Mobility and Divine Authority in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2020

Sarah Olsen
Affiliation:
Williams College, Massachusetts
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Summary

Chapter Two is the first of four chapters on Athenian drama, and it takes as its focal point Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. In this chapter, I observe that the representation of the maiden Io as a wild and erratic dancer engages with images of female choreia and the precarious position of the outstanding maiden soloist that originate in Archaic poetry but develop a special force within Athenian tragedy. Building on arguments developed in Chapter One, I explore how the image of the maiden chorus creates space for the female soloist to relate positively to her choral group, and then demonstrate that Io disrupts that paradigm by appearing utterly unmoored from any sense of chorality. I argue that Io embodies the play’s vision of mortal life and offers an image of resistance to the authority of Zeus distinct from the static suffering of Prometheus himself – a resistance that is grounded in the twin forces of mobility and maternity.

Type
Chapter
Information
Solo Dance in Archaic and Classical Greek Literature
Representing the Unruly Body
, pp. 52 - 72
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Io’s Dance
  • Sarah Olsen, Williams College, Massachusetts
  • Book: Solo Dance in Archaic and Classical Greek Literature
  • Online publication: 30 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108755221.003
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  • Io’s Dance
  • Sarah Olsen, Williams College, Massachusetts
  • Book: Solo Dance in Archaic and Classical Greek Literature
  • Online publication: 30 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108755221.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Io’s Dance
  • Sarah Olsen, Williams College, Massachusetts
  • Book: Solo Dance in Archaic and Classical Greek Literature
  • Online publication: 30 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108755221.003
Available formats
×