Female Emotions: Pain as a Prelude to Other πάθη in Euripides' Electra

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of pain (λύπη) in the first part of Euripides' tragedy Electra and its relationship with other emotions (πάθη) that drive the protagonists toward revenge. Drawing upon ancient philosophical reflections on passions—particularly the Aristotelian framework in the Rhetoric and the subjective changes induced by emotions, the study examines how pain extends beyond physical sensation to become an embodied, spiritual, and socio-political experience. Methodologically, the work employs a lexical survey of terms associated with suffering, weeping, and thrnetic lamentation (θρῆνος, γόος) to explore the emotional language of the play. The analysis demonstrates that Euripides' innovative shift of the dramatic setting to a rural space intensifies Electra's degradation and loss of royal status, prompting her to express her grief in solitude through subversive lamentation rituals and physical gestures. The paper concludes that this textual and corporeal construction of pain functions as an internal psychological preparation transitioning from “passive” feelings to “active” emotions such as anger (ὀργή) and hatred, thereby establishing emotional grounds to justify punishment and revenge against Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.