Tragic Heroines in Ancient Greek Drama by Hanna M. Roisman;

Author:Hanna M. Roisman; [Roisman, Hanna M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781350104006
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2020-11-24T00:00:00+00:00

Recognition

After poking fun at Menelaus’ appearance, boasts, and lack of courage, Euripides turns to the recognition between husband and wife, in which he again draws a comparison to the Odyssey. The ambiguity in the recognition of Odysseus by his wife is notorious. It may not be far-fetched to suppose that Penelope recognizes her husband, who is disguised as a beggar with a divinely altered physiognomy, but refuses to acknowledge him as such and tests him out of spite caused by his mistrust of her.39 Helen, on the other hand, indisputably fails to recognize her husband. As the recognition scene progresses, the reunion of husband and wife is set as a romantic tragicomedy of errors. It is of interest that neither of them uses the “tokens of recognition” that Helen claimed they had (290–91). Were they mentioned in the beginning of the play only to cast Helen in the Penelope mould?

Helen initially suspects Menelaus of being Theoclymenus’ emissary who is trying to ambush her in order to drag her from the tomb by force and make her marry the king. Scared, she cries for help from the Chorus in a similar fashion to Euripides’ hysterical Electra, who thinks that Orestes is about to violate her (Eur. El. 215–27; Hel. 541–54). Helen eventually recognizes and acknowledges Menelaus first. Menelaus is still convinced that he has left his wife in a cave, and despite acknowledging the resemblance of the two women, he is certain that she is an apparition of some sort. Only the arrival of Menelaus’ servant, who recounts the disappearance of the phantom from the cave, permits the recognition.

The couple’s reunion is filled with emotion, reminiscent of the reunion of Electra and Orestes in Sophocles’ Electra in both language and structure. It is therefore rather surprising that in the midst of their impassioned encounter, Helen clouds the moment by telling Menelaus that he has to leave Egypt immediately. If he does not flee, he will be killed because his unexpected arrival hinders her marriage to Theoclymenus (778–83). Helen’s words are astonishing. She has just met Menelaus after waiting for him for seventeen long years, part of which she spent at the tomb of Proteus to avoid this marriage. If she thinks that Menelaus can escape Egypt unscathed, why doesn’t she plan to join him? Because she does not include herself in Menelaus’ suggested flight, it sounds as if she intends to marry Theoclymenus.

What happened? Was all her suffering in vain? Has the appearance of Menelaus discouraged her? Has she realized that this is not the man whom she left? Where is her former love and care for Hermione? Or maybe, Menelaus’ arrival puts a stop to her “suffering chaste persona” which she has cultivated for the last seventeen years?40 Indeed, line 780 (“Flee with all speed from this land”) has bothered editors, some of whom delete it, but this is unnecessary on textual grounds and thematic ones (see Allan 2008 on line). As quickly as this fleeting suggestion of what could be interpreted as Helen’s intention to marry Theoclymenus appeared, so it vanishes.

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