Andromaca di Euripide: contesto storico della composizione, struttura drammaturgica, carattere dei personaggi

Euripides’ Andromache is dated around the mid-’20s of the 4th century BC. According to a scholium at l. 445, the tragedy was not performed in Athens, and many clues support the hypothesis that the site of the first performance may have been Epirus, and specifically the sanctuary of Dodona, to which directly refers Orestes, at l. 886. The historical sources confirm the relationship between Athens and the Molossi, Epirus’ ruling house, at that time. Andromache is inspired by traditional stories from the epic repertoire, but Euripides renews the plot complicating the scenario, and recreates new characters changing the ethos of the mythical figures in variant forms. The play ends with Thetis coming on stage ex machina and promising the Epirus’ kings a glorious, both heroic and divine, genealogy.