I dialoghi lirico-epirrematici nei drammi di Euripide

Lyric-epirrhematic dialogues in the Greek tragedy of 5th century b.C. are a special kind of interlocution in which a speaker uses lyric metres and sings, while the other uses non-lyric metres and plays his part with the simple use of words, in certain cases probably with the accompaniment of a musical instrument. This research work takes into consideration some euripidean lyric-epirrhematic dialogues (26 out of 33) to determine general principles by which they are built, especially with regard to their structure on the one hand, and to the contexts and purpose of their employment on the other. Most of euripidean lyric-epirrhematic dialogues significatively belong to four typical scenes: 1) interaction between stage and back-stage, especially on the occasion of the death of a character during the performance; 2) funeral laments; 3) recognition scenes; 4) dialogues with the main function of giving news to someone of something ruinous. This particular lyric-epirrhematic structure is generally employed to lend pathos to these scenes and to mark them out – in the play’s structure – from other scenes similar in contents, but different in form. Unlike with sophoclean usus, these dialogues are frequently astrophic and asymmetric. This freedom in composition, often rejected and erroneously normalized by philologists, should be more critically inquired and can be grounded on the dramatist’s will to investigate the psychological profile of his characters, or to refer to other literary patterns.