Pasolini’s Greeks and the Irrational

This article traces Pasolini’s engagement with Aeschylus Oresteia and the concept of “irrational,” through which he sought to excavate patterns ideological resistance in classical past. I argue that translations adaptations ultimately failed achieve his desired ambition forward an fit for proletariat, whose words might spark new kinds Marxist thought. However, there is value reading into practices reflections on work. Acknowledging parsing affects disappointment resignation, broader conceptual outlines ambitions become clearer as gestures kind “failed” reception – attempt turn classics political ends. An analysis this failure teaches us theoretical lessons about what it mean perform a generative politically fruitful appropriation classics, necessarily confronting entrenched ideologies past their tenacious ability reproduce themselves even most unexpected literary contexts. The engages selections from literary, personal, writings 1960s until death connecting other contemporaneous essayistic, novelistic, cinematic projects.