The three changes of scene in extant Greek tragedy, with special attention to the suicide of Aias

Michael Ewans (University of Newcastle, Australia) delivers an in-person lecture examining how the change of scene from Delphi to Athens in Aeschylus’ Eumenides was performed in 458 BCE, in the light of what we can deduce from the text, other ancient evidence and a modern production directed by the author in a replica of the ancient Athenian theatre shape. The insights gained are then applied to two other plays in which it is evident that a change of scene took place, Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers and Sophocles’ Aias. In both cases, but especially in Aias, a conclusion has been reached which differs substantially from those proposed by classical scholars.