The Flies (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Jean-Paul Sartre
- First Published: 1943
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Existentialism
- Time of Work: Antiquity
- Genres: Existential literature, Drama
- Subjects: France or French people, World War II, Gods or goddesses, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people
- Locales: Greece, ancient, Argos, ancient
Places Discussed
*Argos. Ancient Greek city in which the play is set. The square is dominated by a statue of Zeus, god of flies and death, and it has two purposes within the drama. First, Sartre emphasizes visually the overbearing influence of Zeus. Second, by assuming that his audiences are aware that public squares in ancient Greece were places through which everyone had reason to pass, he avoided having to contrive pretexts for the meetings that set in motion the action of his play. In the square, Orestes and his tutor come into contact with assorted citizens, none of whom...
[The entire page is 821 words long]
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