Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Euripidesʼ <jats:italic>Helen</jats:italic> was performed in 412, some months after the complete débâcle of the Athenian army on Sicily. Aristophanes speaks of the “new Helen”, and there is indeed no reason to criticize the pretty heroine. This new character corresponds to the new poetic conception Euripides presents in the <jats:italic>Helen</jats:italic> as in the contemporary <jats:italic>Andromeda</jats:italic>, too, after having tried to apply it already in the <jats:italic>Iphigenia Taurica</jats:italic> (414 or 413). In the mentioned tragedies large-scale operations as the Trojan War are missed. However, this war is condemned in the diccussions of the post-war time in <jats:italic>Helen</jats:italic>. In the action prevail rather single fates and a lot of adventures. To return home proves to be a remarkable motive, when according to Thucydides only few succeeded in escaping from Sicily. The hard struggle to save the life against tyrannical violence in far-off barbarous countries seem to be important for the new conception. Cheerful components are the love and the happy ending. But there is no doubt: The new poetic manner does not prevent tragedies from remaining tragedies.</jats:p>