Publication details
Mères coupables, mères pardonnées : À propos de la réception médiévale de Jocaste
| Title in English | Guilty mothers, forgiven mothers. :On the medieval reception of Jocasta |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Bien Dire et Bien Aprandre |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | Open access with embargo |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.54563/bdba.1938 |
| Keywords | Mothers; guilty; sin; incest; mythology; Old French; Jocasta |
| Description | Guilty of incest, but unaware of her fault, Jocasta is an ambiguous character. Within the medieval adaptations of the myth, this figure undergoes different interpretations, that can follow two main narrative schemes, which correspond to as many ancient versions of the legend: in Sophocles’ tragedy, Jocasta commits suicide as soon as she discovers the incest; in The Phoenician Women of Euripides (as in Statius’ Thebaid) she tries to avoid the conflict between her two sons, but commits suicide with a sword when she realises that her efforts are futile. This dynamic concerns the French literature, which during the Middle Ages constantly re-tells the Theban legend. In this paper we show to what extent French medieval literature elaborates the life of Jocasta and through which narrative devices. To do so, this article takes into consideration a large corpus, from the 12th to the 15th century (from the Roman de Thebes to the Fleur des histoires of Jean Mansel). |