What do we actually see on stage? A cognitive approach to the interaction of visual and aural effects in the performance of Greek tragedy

International audienceIt is Chapter 18 of one of the first edited volumes on the interdisciplinary crossing between classical studies and cognitive approaches, directed by P. Meineck, W. Short and J. Devereaux. In this chapter, I analyse several theatrical objects in Aeschylus’ Oresteia, for which visual effects and verbal cues most likely did not match in the course of the performance. I offer close readings of these passages, grounded in a neuroscientific framework and in philosophical theories on the integration of multisensory inputs. In doing so, I aim to shed new light on the multisensory treatment of objects in Aeschylus’ dramas and on its reception by its original audience. Adopting this perspective seems particularly relevant in the case of Aeschylus’ extant dramas, which contain, I argue, an implied poetics of fluid interactions between aural and visual effects. My claim is that Aeschylus’ plays are works profoundly engaged with multisensory interactions that challenged visual dominance, in favour of the co-working of perception and imagination