Tragedy and enlightenment: Athenian political thought and the dilemmas of modernity

Abstract

Weaving together ancient Greek texts postmodernist theory, Christopher Rocco addresses the debate between modernity postmodernity that dominates contemporary theory. Interpreting Greek drama within a critical framework informed by contemporary theorists Foucault, Habermas, Horkheimer Adorno, Tragedy Enlightenment makes a sophisticated argument for the continuing relevance of the classical past, focusing on the subject of democracy. The starting point for Rocco's analysis is the impasse in contemporary political cultural theory over the possibility desirability of democracy in a postmodern world. After explaining the competing positions in the current debate, Rocco argues that ancient Greek tragedy dialoguespecifically Sophocles' Oedipus, Plato's Republic and Gorgias, Aeschylus' Oresteiasuggest alternate constructions for this other postmodern problems. Rocco gives a detailed analysis of the contemporary divide over the theories of Jurgen Habermas Michel Foucault provides a provocative reading of Horkheimer Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment. This original contribution to political cultural discourse brings us to a new understanding of familiar texts will alter the grounds of debate for students scholars of the classical the contemporary worlds.