Killing Hercules

Deianira and the Politics of Domestic Violence, from Sophocles to the War on Terror

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Theatre, Performing Arts
Cover of the book Killing Hercules by Richard Rowland, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Richard Rowland ISBN: 9781317109082
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: December 8, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Richard Rowland
ISBN: 9781317109082
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: December 8, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

This book offers an entirely new reception history of the myth of Hercules and his wife/killer Deianira. The book poses, and attempts to answer, two important and related questions. First, why have artists across two millennia felt compelled to revisit this particular myth to express anxieties about violence at both a global and domestic level? Secondly, from the moment that Sophocles disrupted a myth about the definitive exemplar of masculinity and martial prowess and turned it into a story about domestic abuse, through to a 2014 production of Handel’s Hercules that was set in the context of the ‘war on terror’, the reception history of this myth has been one of discontinuity and conflict; how and why does each culture reinvent this narrative to address its own concerns and discontents, and how does each generation speak to, qualify or annihilate the certainties of its predecessors in order to understand, contain or exonerate the aggression with which their governors – of state and of the household – so often enforce their authority, and the violence to which their nations, and their homes, are perennially vulnerable?

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This book offers an entirely new reception history of the myth of Hercules and his wife/killer Deianira. The book poses, and attempts to answer, two important and related questions. First, why have artists across two millennia felt compelled to revisit this particular myth to express anxieties about violence at both a global and domestic level? Secondly, from the moment that Sophocles disrupted a myth about the definitive exemplar of masculinity and martial prowess and turned it into a story about domestic abuse, through to a 2014 production of Handel’s Hercules that was set in the context of the ‘war on terror’, the reception history of this myth has been one of discontinuity and conflict; how and why does each culture reinvent this narrative to address its own concerns and discontents, and how does each generation speak to, qualify or annihilate the certainties of its predecessors in order to understand, contain or exonerate the aggression with which their governors – of state and of the household – so often enforce their authority, and the violence to which their nations, and their homes, are perennially vulnerable?

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Labor Market Segmentation and its Implications by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Behind East Asian Growth by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Blake, Politics, and History by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Using Analytical Frameworks for Classroom Research by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Pocket Guide For Textbook Of Pharmocotherapy by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Wittgenstein and Other Minds by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Fairytale in the Ancient World by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Environmental History of Modern Migrations by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Speaking Our Minds by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Late Ottoman Society by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Banking on Equality by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Whiteness and Teacher Education by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Hands-On Exhibitions by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Law and Morality by Richard Rowland
Cover of the book Arguing Development Policy by Richard Rowland
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy