A German Jewish refugee suffering tremendous personal and political upheaval during the years of Nazi conquest, Hannah Arendt turned to classical literature and drama as she struggled to make sense of the terrible events of her time. Studying fiction, plays, and poetry, she found a way to meld theoretical political philosophy and concrete personal commitment to action. Among her literary resources, the epics and plays of ancient Greece provided the ideal balance of politics and culture.
In Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Tragedy, Pirro focuses especially on the influence of Greek tragedy on Arendt's political writings. Pirro casts Arendt's political thought as tragic storytelling, crafted to inspire her audience both to appreciate political freedoms and to act on those freedoms by participating in public life. Echoing an affinity for Greek drama common in the tradition of German philosophy and letters, Arendt draws on tragic characters, scenes, and dramatic conventions, as well as theories, to assess the maddening and often fatal contradictions of political life in modern times.
Classical narratives of heroic achievements and failures shape the structure and content of Arendtian thought, as when she compares Jewish refugees' attempts to confront their stateless condition during the 1930s and 1940s to Ulysses's mythical quest. Turning her attention in the postwar years to the promise and limits of political freedom in American life, Arendt invokes Sophocles's last drama, Oedipus at Colonus, in an attempt to outline an alternative, aesthetic sense of political authority in the American Republic.
In providing this new avenue of approach to Arendt, Pirro shows how elements of Greek tragedy helped her grapple with the problems of modern politics in the chaos of a universe without rules. Arendt enthusiasts and readers interested in the classics and politics will find fresh ideas to consider in Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Tragedy.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Lucid and elegant…. A timely and rich contribution to understanding both Arendt and our modern times."—Alkis Kontos, University of Toronto
"Thoughtful and thought provoking."—Phillip Hansen, author of Hannah Arendt
From the Publisher
Arendt enthusiasts and readers interested in the classics and politics will find fresh ideas to consider in HANNAH ARENDT AND THE POLITICS OF TRAGEDY.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Arendt's Political Art,
By Stephen Most (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: HANNAH ARENDT AND THE POLITICS OF TRAGEDY (Hardcover)
Robert Pirro sets himself a difficult task in Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Tragedy. His thesis that Greek tragedy was a formative influence on her political thought is correct and illuminating. Yet to make this case he has few references in her work to rely on, and he has to overcome the common criticism that Arendt idealized the Greek polis. A key to understanding Arendt's view of politics is her statement in The Human Condition that theater is "the political art par excellence." Her view of politics was theatrical in ways that Pirro makes clear. This is more than an analogy, and it goes deeper than the joy of appearing in public that the political actor has in common with the player on stage. Arendt's Kantian concept of judgement in terms of imaginative visiting of multiple points of view is based on the role of the spectator before whom events in history as on stage unfold. Pirro makes his case carefully with scholarly deployment of citations and ingenious arguments, yet he never loses sight of the big picture. For those who would understand Hannah Arendt as an actor in the theater of political thought, his book is invaluable.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended reading for Arendt's many admirers,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: HANNAH ARENDT AND THE POLITICS OF TRAGEDY (Hardcover)
Hannah Arendt was a German Jewish refugee who suffered as so many others did from tremendous personal and political upheavals following the end of World War II. Arendt struggled to make sense of recent events by drawing on elements of classical tragedy in her political writing. She also found in imaginative literature a means to meld political philosophy and political commitment, the theoretical and the personal. Hannah Arendt And The Politics Of Tragedy reveals the crucial role of imaginative literature in Arendt's political thought. Author Robert Pirro has employed an admirable scholarship and attention to detail in his presentation of Hannah Arendt life, thought and writing which is highly recommended reading for Arendt's many admirers, as well as students of political philosophy.
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