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This article offers a new, ironic reading of the false narrative of Orestes’ chariot accident in Sophocles’ Electra (680–763). It argues that the speech exploits an established connection between the ancestral evils of the Atreids and the thematic nexus of horses, chariot racing and disaster to evoke Orestes’ flight from the Erinyes following the matricide. Focusing on the language and structure of the narrative as well as drawing on other versions of the story (notably the surviving plays by Aeschylus and Euripides), the article demonstrates, in contrast to previous readings, that the speech is much more than an over-elaborate means to an end. Instead, in an ominous and profoundly ironic twist, the Paedagogus’ fictional narrative of the chariot race offers a possible vision of the trials awaiting the real Orestes. The matricide and murder, far from ending the ancestral woes of the Atreids, may well bring about Orestes’ pursuit by the Erinyes.

This article offers a comparative reading of Solon's Elegy to the Muses (fragment 13 West) and the Babylonian Poem of the Righteous Sufferer, focusing on the interplay of literary form and theological content. It argues that in both poems, shifts in the identity and perspective of the poetic voice enable the speaker to act out, or perform, a particular vision of humanity and its relationship with the divine. The comparative analysis improves our understanding of both texts, showing for instance that Solon's elegy is a highly sophisticated attempt to articulate a coherent vision of divine justice and the human condition. It also sheds light on the particular modes in which ancient literature and theology interact in different contexts, and how this interaction could affect audiences.

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