From: Gregory Jordan (ENG) (jordan@chuma.cas.usf.edu)
Date: Sat Aug 26 1995 - 15:20:14 EDT
For the PN, "the Scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mark 14:49) and Jesus's
own predictions (e.g., 4:30) play the role of the oracles, omens, and
prophecies in Greek tragedy, the working out of fate through the mouths
of the gods. But in Greek tragey, the irony and horror is that the
protagonist struggles to avoid fate. How does this relate to the PN?
And what catharsis, if any, does the PN provide?
But I don't see the formal properties of Greek tragedy in Mark - the
chorus, the narrative moved by long chains of dialogue, etc.
(perhaps the scope of one day is relevant, though I think that is not an
Aristotelian requirement). One must make allowances for a native Jewish
tradition of tragedy - e.g., the story of David, even the story of Israel
itself - it's fall from greatness, it's repeated warnings by the
prophets, and it's final defeat in the Captivity. Jesus is
recapitulating God's dealings with Israel - as God, abandoned by
Israel - and as Israel, abandoned by God.
Greg Jordan
jordan@chuma.cas.usf.edu
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