Uccisioni sacrificali e rappresentazioni del grottesco nell’Alessandra di Licofrone: la parola e l’immagine (I)

The aim of this paper is to examine the place of vividness in Lycophron’s Alexandra. I will argue that, within the apparently haphazard juxtaposition of myths, Lycophron pays a constant attention to descriptive details in order to sketch, in his reader’s mind, the next image of the poem. The characteristics of his poem are well-known: obscure oracular language, erudite plays in which the author engages with his reader’s knowledge. This paper intends to shed light on a different aspect of Lycophron’s poetics: namely the relationship between word and image and the place of enargeia in the poem. Enargeia is indeed the means through which the labyrinthic and constantly unrolling thread of the mythological narrative becomes a prophetic vision, full of vividness. The images that Lycophron suggest are also meant to create strong and meaningful links between episodes that would, at first, seem independant and that are sometimes scattered throughout the poem. I will explore the connections between the dire meal of Demeter (Alex. 152-155), the image of Iphigeneia as the somber executioner of cruel sacrifices (Alex. 194-199), the role of her own son, Neoptolemus, in the sacrifice of Polyxena (Alex. 323-328). Finally, I will study the episode in which Penelope is shown as a raving maenad eager to dilapidate her husband’s wealth (Alex. 771-792)