Tragic props and cognitive function : aspects of the function of images in thinking / / by Colleen Chaston.

• Superior document: Mnemosyne. Supplements : Monographs on Greek and Roman language and literature, v. 317
• Author: Chaston, Colleen.
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum ; 317.; Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum. Monographs on Greek and Roman language and literature.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (292 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

By applying aspects of cognitive psychology to a study of three key tragic props, this book examines the importance of visual imagery in ancient Greek tragedy. The shield, the urn and the mask are props which serve as controls for investigating the connection between visual imagery and the spectators' intellectual experience of tragic drama. As vehicles for conceptual change the props point to a function of imagery in problem solving. Connections between the visual and the cognitive in tragedy, particularly through image shape and its potential for various meanings, add a new perspective to scholarship on the role of the visual in ancient performance. These connections also add weight to the importance of imagery in contemporary problem solving and creative thought.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Aristotle's opsis ; The sorts of images we find in tragedy ; Cognitive psychology and the role of imagery in problem solving -- The shield : Aiskhylos, Seven against Thebes : 375-676 -- The urn : Sophokles, Elektra -- The mask of Dionysos : Euripides, Bakkhai.