{"id":251,"date":"2024-07-02T18:12:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T22:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/?page_id=251"},"modified":"2024-12-20T17:38:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T22:38:20","slug":"an-unhomely-homecoming-classical-assoc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/news-and-events\/classical-association-panel\/an-unhomely-homecoming-classical-assoc\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unhomely Homecoming (Classical Association Panel, 2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Unhomely Homecoming: Encounters with the Uncanny in Seneca’s Agamemnon<\/em>
\nElaine Sanderson (University of Edinburgh)<\/p>\n

As Hammond has noted, ‘what tragedy takes apart is the very notion of the homely, of the self and its rootedness’ (2009: 4). The Uncanny, first outlined by Freud as that which is frightful yet familiar, homely yet unhomely (Freud, 1919; Royle, 2003), thus represents a conducive lens through which to consider some of the ‘strange’ and\/or ‘uncomfortable’ elements of Seneca’s tragedies. Examinations of uncanny elements in Seneca’s Thyestes<\/em> and Troades<\/em> (Dodson-Robinson, 2010; McAuley, 2013), and broader psychoanalytically and aesthetically informed studies of Seneca’s works (Shelton, 1977; Segal, 1986; Gunderson, 2015), along with recent work on the relationship between ancient literature and the Uncanny more widely (Clarke, 2021; Kamil, 2021; Sanderson, 2021; Sanderson & Burke-Tomlinson, 2021) have demonstrated the fruitfulness of such inquiries.<\/p>\n

This paper identifies the Uncanny as a major aesthetic force in Seneca’s Agamemnon<\/em>, confronting its audience with the same experiences of unhomeliness, displacement, and uncertainty suffered by its internal characters. I begin by demonstrating the unhomely nature of Agamemnon’s homecoming, highlighting the duplicitous implications of the terms in which Agamemnon characterises his safe return and his household (Sen. Ag<\/em>. 782, 791, 800-1) and the harmonious dynamics between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra are described (Sen. Ag<\/em>. 780-1). I then argue that this disruption constitutes more than<\/em> just tragic irony and that this semantic slippage represents a reflection of the kind of uncanny descent into un<\/em>homeliness which runs through this episode. Finally, I build on studies by Dodson-Robinson (2010) and Gunderson (2018) to consider how instances of repetition and doubling \u2013 such as the doubling of Troy and Argos (Sen. Ag<\/em>. 791-6), past and present crimes (Sen. Ag<\/em>. 25-7, 43-8, 162-73, 226-33, 875-909; Boyle, 1983: 200-2), and Agamemnon\u2019s death(s) foreseen and reported by Cassandra (Sen. Ag<\/em>. 720-40, 867-909) \u2013 create a pervasive and recurring sense of the Uncanny throughout the Agamemnon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/p>\n

Boyle, A. J. 1983. ‘hic epulis locus<\/em>: The Tragic Worlds of Seneca’s Agamemnon and Thyestes’. Ramus<\/em> 12: 199-228.<\/p>\n

Clarke, A. 2021. ‘Manti kakon<\/em>: The Uncanny Prophecies of Calchas in the Iliad and Beyond’. Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural<\/em> 10: 11-33.<\/p>\n

Dodson-Robinson, E. 2010. ‘Rending Others: Ethical Contagio<\/em> in Seneca’s Thyestes<\/em>‘, Mouseion<\/em> 54: 45-68.<\/p>\n

Freud, S. [1919] 2003.\u00a0The Uncanny<\/em>. Trans. D. McLintock. London.<\/p>\n

Gunderson, E. 2015.\u00a0The Sublime Seneca: Ethics, Literature, Metaphysics<\/em>. Cambridge.<\/p>\n

Gunderson, E. 2018. ‘Repetition’. Ramus<\/em> 46: 118-134.<\/p>\n

Hammond, P. 2009.\u00a0The Strangeness of Tragedy<\/em>. Oxford.<\/p>\n

Kamil, M. 2021. ‘Locus Suspectus<\/em>: The Uncanny Landscape of Invidia’<\/em>s Lair (Ovid, Metamorphoses<\/em> 2.760-764)’. Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural<\/em> 10: 70-89.<\/p>\n

McAuley, M. 2013. ‘Breaking Apart Like the World: Seneca and Psychoanalysis’. Canadian Review of Comparative Literature<\/em> 40: 71-87.<\/p>\n

Royle, N. 2003.\u00a0The Uncanny<\/em>. Manchester.<\/p>\n

Sanderson, E. C. 2021. ‘A Wor(l)d Beside Itself: Exploring and Experiencing the Uncanny in Lucan’s Bellum Civile<\/em>‘. Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural<\/em> 10: 90-116.<\/p>\n

Sanderson, E. C. & Burke-Tomlinson, H. 2021. ‘Introduction: The “Uncanny” in Classical Antiquity’. Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural<\/em> 10: 7-10.<\/p>\n

Segal, C. 1986. Language and Desire in Seneca’s Phaedra<\/em>. Princeton: NJ.<\/p>\n

Shelton, J. 1977. ‘The Dramatization of Inner Experience: The Opening Scene of Seneca’s Agamemnon<\/em>‘. Ramus<\/em> 6: 33-82.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Unhomely Homecoming: Encounters with the Uncanny in Seneca’s Agamemnon Elaine Sanderson (University of Edinburgh) As Hammond has noted, ‘what tragedy takes apart is the very notion of the homely, of the self and its rootedness’ (2009: 4). The Uncanny, first outlined by Freud as that which is frightful yet familiar, homely yet unhomely (Freud, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23724,"featured_media":0,"parent":137,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23724"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/251\/revisions\/665"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/overlooked-network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}