Alcmaeon in Corinth
| Alcmaeon in Corinth | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Euripides |
| Chorus | believed to be female |
| Characters |
Alcmaeon Amphilochus Tisiphone Merope Apollo Others? |
| Date premiered | 405 BC |
| Place premiered | Athens |
| Original language | Ancient Greek |
| Genre | Tragedy |
| Setting | Corinth |
Alcmaeon in Corinth (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμαίων ὁ διὰ Κορίνθου, Alkmaiōn ho dia Korinthou; also known as Alcmaeon at Corinth, Alcmaeon) is a play by Greek dramatist Euripides. It was first produced posthumously at the Dionysia in Athens, most likely in 405 BCE, in a trilogy with The Bacchae and Iphigenia in Aulis. The trilogy won first prize. Except for a few fragments, Alcmaeon in Corinth has been lost. Irish playwright Colin Teevan published a reconstruction of the play in 2005. Approximately 23 fragments covering about 40 lines of Alcmaeon in Corinth are extant and were incorporated by Teevan in his reconstruction, although it is not certain that all these fragments belong to this play. No complete scene has survived, nor has the cast of characters.
What is known of the plot of Alcmaeon in Corinth is based on a summary in the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus. According to this summary, during the time he went mad Alcmaeon had a son, Amphilochus, and a daughter, Tisiphone, by Manto. Alcmaeon left the children to be raised by King Creon of Corinth, but Creon's wife Merope, jealous of Tisiphone, sold her into slavery. Alcmaeon unknowingly purchased Tisiphone as a slave, and returned to Corinth with her, where he was reunited with Amphilochus, who was later to be the founder of Amphilochian Argos.
The play began with a prologue narrated by the god Apollo during which he explained that although Manto did not have any children with him, she had two children by Alcmaeon. While Alcmaeon was in Corinth, there would have been a recognition scene in which Tisiphone's identity was revealed, probably by Merope. Based on one of the surviving fragments, Creon fled childless into exile after the true father of Amphilochus was revealed to be Alcmaeon rather than Creon.
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