From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Bellerophon (play)

Ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides

Summary

Ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides

Field	Value
writer	Euripides
characters	Bellerophon, Glaucos, others
place	Athens
orig_lang	Classical Greek
genre	Tragedy

the play by Euripides

Bellerophon (, Bellerophōn) is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Bellerophon. Most of the play was lost by the end of the Antiquity, and only 90 verses, grouped into 29 fragments, currently survive.

Plot

Given the fragmentary state of this tragedy, the plot remains open to conjecture. Most modern critics nevertheless agree on the following storyline.

The play apparently began with Bellerophon riding his horse Pegasus carried in the air by the crane.

Bellerophon, who seems to have lost everything, lives on an uncultivated land with his father Glaucos and Pegasus. Deeply pessimistic about his condition, Bellerophon eventually believes the gods do not exist.

He subsequently decides to reach Mount Olympus, thanks to Pegasus's flying abilities. The motives of such an ascent have remained unclear. Regardless, Pegasus falls with his rider and the wounded Bellerophon is brought to the stage. Having repented for his blasphemous behaviour, Bellerophon dies.

References

Translations

Euripide, Tragédies, vol. 8, 2e part. Fragments. De Bellérophon à Protésilas; Greek text and French translation by François Jouan and Herman Van Looy; Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000, 2002, 2003.

Studies

N. Wecklein, Tragödien des Euripides: Bellerophontes, 98-109, SBAW, 1888
A. Caputi Euripide e le sue tragedie sul mito di Bellerofonte, 509-515, RAL, 1909
M. Pohlenz, Die Grichische Tragödie, I pages 290-293 and II 123-124, Göttingen, 1954
Z. V. Vykozy, De Euripidis Bellerophonte, pages 137-145, ZJFK, 1963. This Czech essay was translated into German in BCO, 358, 1964.
A. Carlini, Due note euripidee, 201-205, SCO, 1965
P. Rau, Paratragœdia, 89-91, Munich, 1967
Lamberto Di Gregorio, Il Bellerofonte di Euripide. I. Dati per una ricostruzione; II. Tentativa di ricostruzione, 195-214 and 365-382, CCC, 1983
Christoph Riedweg, The "atheistic" fragment from Euripides "Bellerophontes", 39-53, ICS, 1990
Mariarita Paterlini, Note al Bellerofonte euripideo, 513-523, Sileno, 1990.

References

Decharme, P.. (2006). "Euripides and the Spirit of His Dramas". Kessinger Publishing.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

plays-by-euripides lost-plays plays-based-on-classical-mythology plays-set-in-ancient-greece

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Bellerophon (play) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report