A STUDY IN THE LIGHT OF ANCIENT GREEK TRAGEDIES- “MADNESS” AS A TRAGIC ELEMENT

Abstract

Since the beginning of time, madness has been ascribed to the sacred. This was also the case for the
Ancient Greeks. They believed that their anthropomorphic deities were involved in all aspects of
life. So they characterized madness as a condition sent by the gods. The connection between
madness and the divine powers has also been the theme of Ancient Greek poetry.In Homer’s The Iliad, at the fiercest moment of the war, the enraged Hector wears the armor of
Patroclus and there enters into him Ares the god of war, his limbs are filled with might. In The
Odyssey, when the suitors of Penelope gather for dinner, Athena makes them laugh uncontrollably
and then makes them cry.
The theme of madness can also be seen in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
Although insanity still is a divine punishment in those plays, there are other reasons for the madness
of tragic heroes and heroines. Feelings of guilt, sense of responsibilty, sadness, shame, honor and
arrogance may be mentioned among them. In the Sophoclean tragedy “Aias”, Aias goes mad and
kills Greek cattle believing that it is the Greeks. After returning to his senses, he kills himself out of
shame. In the Euripidean tragedy “Medeia”, after Iason’s betrayal, Medeia goes mad and takes
vengeance on Iason by murdering Glauce, his new wife as well as her own children.
Our aim in this study is to examine the notion of madness in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles
and Euripides.