4 Tragedy of Ideas

Abstract This chapter begins with the observation that Euripides is often called ‘the philosopher of the stage’, and explores what is meant by this description. It examines the relationship between tragedy and philosophy. It argues that Euripides, far from being a merely ‘clever’ and superficial playwright, was in fact deeply and seriously engaged with philosophical ideas. It is shown that the escape-tragedies can be read as a complex exploration of epistemological and ontological ideas, in common with and parallel to the Sophists and Presocratics. Philosophical problems of knowledge, language, appearance, reality, and personal existence are seen as central to the meaning of the trilogy.