Egypt as threshold and the hero in focus in Helen by euripedes

Abstract

This paper analyzes how Egypt, land where Euripides develops the version of the myth narrated in Helen (412 BC), updates Scheria, island where Odysseus redifines his return narrating his adventures in the Odyssey. In order to establish the affinities with the Phaeacians' island, the tragic poet appropriates the greek view of Egypt, in which wonder and mystery are the main aspects, and incorporates odyssean elements to the plot, which enables him to recreate a story in which the hero and the war are put into question.