The neglected Herdsman in the Rhesus
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Published
09-03-2026
Elodie Paillard
Abstract
The importance of the herdsman-messenger in the Rhesus for the question of the authorship of the play has been underestimated. This paper aims at showing that the way in which he is treated by Hector is un-Euripidean: no other lower-status character in the extant Euripidean corpus (including fragments) is treated so harshly upon his arrival on stage by an élite principal as he is. The generalization made by Hector about the ‘stupidity’ of herdsmen does not correspond to anything seen in Euripides, who is rather more ‘democratic’ in his staging of non-élite characters. If the play had been performed in front of an audience among which rural inhabitant were present, it is likely that it would have elicited a very negative reaction from this part of the audience. Moreover, the herdsman’s internalized self-depreciation, when he answers that herdsmen are indeed ‘stupid’, is again not found elsewhere in Euripides. The way in which this lower-status character and his interaction with an élite principal are staged provide a new element in favour of a non-Euripidean authorship of the play.
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References
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Paillard, E., 2020, «Odysseus and the Concept of ‘Nobility’ in Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes», Akropolis 4, 65-84.
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Zeitlin, F. 1990, «Thebes: Theater of Self and Society in Athenian Drama», in: J. J. Winkler, F. Zeitlin, Nothing to do with Dionysos? Greek Drama in its Social Context, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 130-167.
Allen, J. T., & G. Italie, 1954, A Concordance to Euripides, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.
Bain, D., 1981, Masters, Servants and Orders in Greek Tragedy: A Study of Some Aspects of Dramatic Technique and Convention, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Barrett, J., 2002, Staged Narrative: Poetics and the Messenger in Greek Tragedy, Berkeley: University of California Press.
De Jong, I. J. F., 1991, Narrative in Drama. The Art of the Euripidean Messenger-Speech, Leiden: Brill.
Fantuzzi, M., 2020, The Rhesus Attributed to Euripides (ed. and comment.), Cambridge: CUP.
Feickert, A., 2005, Euripidis Rhesus, Einleitung, Übersetzung, Kommentar, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Fries, A., 2014, Pseudo-Euripides, Rhesus (ed. and comment.), Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
Fries, A., 2018, «The Rhesus», in: V. Liapis, A. K. Petrides (eds.), Greek Tragedy after the Fifth Century, Cambridge: CUP, 66-89.
Gibert, J., 1995, Change of Mind in Greek Tragedy, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht.
Gregory, J., 2002, «Euripides as Social Critic», Greece&Rome 49.2, 145-162.
Gutzwiller, K. J., 1991, Theocritus’ Pastoral Analogies: The Formation of a Genre, Madison (Wisconsin): The University of Wisconsin Press.
Kovacs, D., 20012, Euripides: Cyclops, Alcestis, Medea (ed. and transl.), Cambridge (Mass.) and London: Loeb Classical Library.
Kovacs, D., 2002, Euripides: Bacchae, Iphigenia at Aulis, Rhesus (ed. and transl.), Cambridge (Mass.) and London: Loeb Classical Library.
Kühner, R., & B. Gerth, 1904, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, vol. 2, 3rd ed., Hannover: Hahn.
Liapis, V., 2009, «Rhesus revisited: The Case for a Fourth-Century Macedonian Context», JHS 129, 71-88.
Liapis, V., 2012, A Commentary on the Rhesus Attributed to Euripides, Oxford: OUP.
Martin, G., 2018, Euripides, Ion (ed. and comment.), Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
Paillard, E., 2017, The Stage and the City. Non-élite Characters in the Tragedies of Sophocles, Paris: De Boccard.
Paillard, E., 2019, «Sophocles and his Audience: “Classical heroes” for the élite?», Classicum 45.1, 1-12.
Paillard, E., 2020, «Odysseus and the Concept of ‘Nobility’ in Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes», Akropolis 4, 65-84.
Paillard, E., 2021, «Secondary Characters’ Rhetorical Skills in Fifth-century Athenian Tragedy», in: M. C. Encinas Reguero (ed.), Tragic Rhetoric. The Rhetorical Dimensions of Greek Tragedy, Bari: Aracne, 143-184.
Paillard, E. & Milanezi, S. (eds.), 2021, Greek Theatre and Metatheatre, Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
Rijksbaron, A., 1976, «How Does a Messenger Begin His Speech? Some Observations on the Opening Lines of Euripidean Messenger-speeches», in: J. M. Bremer, S. Radt, C. J. Ruijgh (eds.), Miscellanea Tragica in Honorem J. C. Kamerbeek, Amsterdam: Hakkert, 293-308.
Ritchie, W., 1964, The Authenticity of the Rhesus of Euripides, Cambridge: CUP.
Rodríguez Piedrabuena, S., 2019, «The Messenger in Euripides’ Heraclidae», in: S. Rodríguez Piedrabuena, G. Kádas, S. Macías Otero, K. Zilverberg (eds.), Approaches to Greek and Latin Language, Literature and History: Kατὰ σχολήν, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 111-138.
Roselli, D. K., 2011, Theater of the People. Spectators and Society in Ancient Athens, Austin (Texas): University of Texas Press.
Strohm, H., 1959, «Beobachtungen zum ‚Rhesos‘», Hermes 87.3, 257-274.
Vidal-Naquet, P. 1986, «Œdipe entre deux cités. Essai sur l’Œdipe à Colone», in: J.-P. Vernant, P. Vidal-Naquet, Mythe et tragédie en Grèce ancienne, t. 2, Paris: La Découverte, 175-212.
Yoon, F., 2012, The Use of Anonymous Characters in Greek Tragedy. The Shaping of Heroes, Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Zeitlin, F. 1990, «Thebes: Theater of Self and Society in Athenian Drama», in: J. J. Winkler, F. Zeitlin, Nothing to do with Dionysos? Greek Drama in its Social Context, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 130-167.
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