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The link between weddings and death - as found in dramas ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Lorca's Blood Wedding - plays a central role in the action of many Greek tragedies. Female characters such as Kassandra, Antigone, and Helen enact and refer to significant parts of wedding and funeral rites, but often in a twisted fashion. Over time the pressure of dramatic events causes the distinctions between weddings and funerals to disappear. In this book Rush Rehm considers how and why the conflation of the two ceremonies comes to theatrical life in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophokles, and Euripides. By focusing on the dramatization of important rituals conducted by women in ancient Athenian society, Rehm offers a new perspective on Greek tragedy and the challenges it posed for its audience. . The conflation of weddings and funerals, the author argues, unleashes a kind of dramatic alchemy whereby female characters become the bearers of new possibilities. Such a formulation enables the tragedians to explore the limitations of traditional thinking and acting in fifth-century Athens. Rehm finds that when tragic weddings and funerals become confused and perverted, the aftershocks disturb the political and ideological givens of Athenian society, challenging the audience to consider new, and often radically different, directions for their city.

Begrafenisgebruiken en -ceremoniën in de literatuur --- Bereavement in literature --- Bruiloften in de literatuur --- Death in literature --- Dood in de literatuur --- Funeral rites and ceremonies in literature --- Huwelijksgewoonten en -riten in literatuur --- Mariage--Coutumes et rites en literature --- Marriage customs and rites in literature --- Mort dans la littérature --- Noces dans la littérature --- Rites et cérémonies funéraires dans la littérature --- Sterfte in de literatuur --- Weddings in literature --- Greek drama (Tragedy) --- Funeral rites and ceremonies in literature. --- Marriage customs and rites in literature. --- Weddings in literature. --- Death in literature. --- Tragédie grecque --- Funérailles --- Mariages dans la littérature --- History and criticism. --- Histoire et critique --- Rites et cérémonies, dans la littérature --- -Marriage customs and rites in literature --- History and criticism --- Tragédie grecque --- Funérailles --- Mariages dans la littérature --- Mort dans la littérature --- Rites et cérémonies, dans la littérature