Minds on Stage

Abstract

Abstract Greek tragedy provides the richest of materials for cognition studies. It thrives on minds: the minds of characters, whose cognitive achievements and, more often, limitations are almost constantly in the spotlight, and those of the spectators, who know more than the characters but can themselves be subtly misdirected, have to come to terms with events that are deeply disturbing ideologically and existentially, and, most fundamentally, have to ‘suspend disbelief’ to turn a man with a mask into Helen of Troy. Both dimensions are well-represented in this volume, and often it is precisely the combination—character cognition as an object of audience cognition—that provides the critical fulcrum. This volume offers studies on mindreading by characters and audiences, the cognitive work by characters, in their attribution of causes, their memories, and their use of objects as tools for thinking, and the cognitive efforts made in spectating ancient drama, in joint attention, generic expectations, and the situated cognitions that help audiences and characters make sense of morally complex situations.

Authors 1

1. Ineke Sluiter Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Leiden