From “Trophós” to “Nutrix”: The Shaping Process of a Secondary Character

Abstract

The intrinsic evolution of the tragic genre allowed secondary characters to assume more prominence in plots. This paper provides an accurate analysis of the nurses on stage that reveals the evidence that later authors will shape the nurse characters by bringing to her her own ideas and motivations and even her own family. The nurse Plangon, in Chariton of Aphrodisias’ novel, could be pointed out as an example of such statement.