The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Balaustion's Adventure: Including a Transcript from Euripides
Balaustion's Adventure: Including a Transcript from Euripides, by
R.
Browning
, published
1871
.
The story, suggested by a passage in
Plutarch
's Life of Nicias, is set just after the defeat of the Athenian expedition against Sicily in
413
BC
. A group of pro-Athenians from Rhodes, inspired by the young girl Balaustion, is intercepted on its voyage to Athens by a pirate ship and is forced to seek shelter in the harbour of Syracuse, where it is refused entry until it is discovered that Balaustion can recite a play by
Euripides
, who was greatly admired in Sicily although neglected in his native Athens. The play is Alcestis, a performance of which Balaustion narrates, mingling with the text her own comments and descriptions. Browning is thus able to represent Euripides’ play in his own interpretation, within the framework of another speaker's consciousness, a marriage of conventional drama with dramatic...
[The entire page is 244 words long]
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