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Iphigenia in Taurus | Introduction

To a modern audience, there is very little dramatic intensity in Iphigenia in Taurus. Those who hunger for action, deep emotion, or sharp irony may find this straightforward play "boring." Iphigenia in Taurus seems a strange combination of tragedy and romance because although tragic conditions precede the events of the play and tragic events nearly happen, no one dies or ends in misfortune in this play. The misfortunes plaguing both Orestes and Iphigenia already exist before the play begins and by the end they are freed of their problems with little effort. The characters talk about past or potential traumas, then neatly dismiss or avoid them. All of the dangerous action occurs offstage or outside of the events of the play itself. Thus, in addition to its traditional classification as a tragedy, Iphigenia in Taurus has been called a "romantic melodrama."

But the play does meet Artistotle's definition of a work that releases pity and fear through exciting and then resolving these emotions (as a tragedy should). The prolonged scene wherein Orestes and Pylades refuse to reveal their identities to Iphigenia and she fails to reveal her own, allows a build up of pity and fear that is released when Iphigenia pronounces her brother's name. This moment of recognition constitutes one element that Aristotle considered key to tragedy: a reversal of situation and recognition.

Iphigenia in Taurus lacks the heightened sense of drama often associated with tragedies, yet it is not unworthy of study, for it opens up a window to the ancient Hellenic mind, which enjoyed the quiet contemplation of the ironies of expectation versus fulfillment. It is a play that explores the mirror image of what is commonly called tragedy: not the descent of a tragic figure but the rise from tragic fate by characters who sidestep human sacrifice and still achieve ritual purification. In that respect, Iphigenia in Taurus is a kind of ancient Greek "escape" literature.

Iphigenia in Taurus Summary

Iphigenia in Taurus takes place in a temple to the goddess Artemis along the shore of Taurus. It opens with a prologue spoken by one of the main characters, Iphigenia. In Euripidean prologues, the events preceding the story are recounted and the upcoming action foretold. Iphigenia explains why she was yet alive after ostensibly being sacrificed by her father, Agamemnon, who offered his child in order to dispel storms preventing his fleet from departing for an important battle.

Artemis, the virgin goddess of childbirth, had once extracted from Agamemnon the promise to sacrifice the loveliest creature born in a twelve month period. His wife Clytemnestra had borne Iphigenia, and Artemis demanded her blood. Agamemnon contrived a false pretext for stealing his daughter, asking Clytemnestra to prepare the child to wed Achilles. But once on the altar of sacrifice, Artemis snatched the young maiden away, placing a deer in her place to fool the humans. Artemis magically transported Iphigenia to Taurus, a "barbarian'' land and made her a priestess in her temple. Ironically, Iphigenia often prepares her fellow Hellenes for sacrifice upon the shrine.

Iphigenia further relates a strange dream she had the previous night, in which an earthquake crumbled her father's house and left only one column standing. This column wore brown hair and Iphigenia weeped over it and prepared it for the deadly ritual of Artemis's temple. Iphigenia interprets her dream to mean that her brother, Orestes, has died and that she cannot properly bury him. She retreats into the temple to pour libations for him.

As she departs, Orestes and his friend Pylades enter from the ocean shore. He and Pylades have been sent by the oracle of Phoebus in retribution for avenging his father's death by killing his mother, Clytemnestra (who killed Agamemnon because he sacrificed Iphigenia). Phoebus, the sister of Artemis, has ordered Orestes to steal her statue from Artemis's temple and give it to Athens. Only by this act of courage will Orestes be freed from the furies who have pursued him since he killed his mother. The two friends discuss how they can accomplish their mission and decide to hide in the caves of the sea cliffs until nightfall.

The chorus enters and sings of Artemis's temple and rituals. These are the girls who assist Iphigenia in her ritual preparations, and... ยป Complete Iphigenia in Taurus Summary