Akiko Kiso

Japanese classicist

Akiko Kiso
木曽明子
Born	1936 Manchuria
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Classical scholar
Known for	First Japanese scholar to publish on Sophocles.

Academic background
Education	Kyoto University
Thesis	The Dissipative Works of Sophocles (1987)
Academic advisors	Chiaki Matsudaira
Academic work
Institutions	Osaka University Kitami Institute of Technology
Main interests	Sophocles, Greek tragedy, parallels with noh
Influenced	Mae J. Smethurst

Akiko Kiso (Japanese: 木曽明子; born 1936) is a Japanese classical scholar who specialises in Greek literature. She is a professor emeritus at Osaka University. She is the first Japanese scholar to publish on Sophocles. Her work included reconstructions of the lost plays of Epigoni and Tereus. She also worked on comparative approaches to Greek tragedy with emphasis on Japanese classical drama.

Biography

Kiso was born in Manchuria in 1936.^[1] In 1987, she completed her PhD in the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University, with a dissertation entitled The Dissipative Works of Sophocles. She is a former student of Chiaki Matsudaira (jp).^[2] Until 1997 she worked as a professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Osaka University. She then was appointed professor at Kitami Institute of Technology before retiring in 2002.^[1] The same year she returned to Osaka University as Emeritus Professor.^[3]

An expert on Sophocles, Kiso was the first Japanese scholar to publish on his works.^[4] In 1984 Kiso published The Lost Sophocles, which reconsidered fragments of Sophocles' lost works.^[5] It included reconstructions of Epigoni and Tereus. The book also argued that since Odysseus appears in many fragments of lost plays, Sophocles must have favoured him as a character to write on.^[6] This work has been discussed in relation to Athena and justice by Rebecca Futo Kennedy.^[7] It was described by Justina Gregory as a work that "created fresh questions" about the use of the Sophoclean fragments.^[6]

Kiso significantly collaborated with Mae J. Smethurst, an American scholar of classical literature, first translating The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeami to Japanese.^[8] Subsequently she advised on Smethurst's Dramatic Action in Greek Tragedy and Noh: Reading with and Beyond Aristotle, as well as translating it to Japanese.^[9] This work compared the Greek tragedy form of theatre with noh - a Japanese form of dance drama.^[8]

Selected works

Kiso, Akiko. "From Tragedy to Comedy The Dramaturgy of Euripides' Ion." 西洋古典論集 14 (1996): 131-136.^[10]
Kiso, Akiko. "The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeami: A Comparative Study of Greek Tragedy and No." The American Journal of Philology (1991): 552-555.^[11]
The Lost Sophocles (New York: Vantage Press, 1984)^[12]
Kiso, Akiko. "Notes on Sophocles’ Epigoni." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 18.3 (1977): 207-226.^[13]
Kiso, Akiko. "Sophocles, Aleadae: a Reconstruction." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 17.1 (1976): 5-21.^[14]
Kiso, Akiko. "Sophocles'" Phaedra" and the Phaedra of the "First Hippolytus"." Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 20 (1973): 22-36.^[15]

References

^ ^a ^b "古代文芸論集（ロンギノス／ディオニュシオス戸高和弘・木曽明子訳, 西洋古典叢書 G102）| 京都大学学術出版会". www.kyoto-up.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-15.
^ "木曽明子：「おお、ゼウスよ」". clsoc.jp. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
^ "木曽明子". KAKEN. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
^ Van Looy, Herman (1987). "Akiko Kiso, The lost Sophocles". L'Antiquité Classique. 56 (1): 314–315.
^ Euripides; Sophocles; University), Hugh (Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek Lloyd-Jones, Oxford (1994). Sophocles: Fragments. Harvard University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-674-99532-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Gregory, Justina (1985). "Review of The Lost Sophocles; The Lost Sophocles". Phoenix. 39 (4): 387–389. doi:10.2307/1088404. ISSN 0031-8299. JSTOR 1088404.
^ Kennedy, Rebecca Futo (2009). Athena's Justice: Athena, Athens and the Concept of Justice in Greek Tragedy. Peter Lang. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4331-0454-1.
^ ^a ^b "Remembering Mae J. Smethurst | University of Pittsburgh Japan Studies". www.japanstudies.pitt.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
^ Smethurst, Mae J. (2013). Dramatic Action in Greek Tragedy and Noh: Reading with and Beyond Aristotle. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. ix. ISBN 978-0-7391-7242-1.
^ Kiso, Akiko. "From Tragedy to Comedy The Dramaturgy of Euripides' Ion." 西洋古典論集 14 (1996): 131-136.
^ Kiso, Akiko (1991). "Review of The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeami: A Comparative Study of Greek Tragedy and No". The American Journal of Philology. 112 (4): 552–555. doi:10.2307/294936. ISSN 0002-9475. JSTOR 294936.
^ Kiso, Akiko (1984). The Lost Sophocles. Vantage Press. ISBN 978-0-533-05902-7.
^ Kiso, Akiko. "Notes on Sophocles’ Epigoni." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 18.3 (1977): 207-226.
^ Kiso, Akiko. "Sophocles, Aleadae: a Reconstruction." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 17.1 (1976): 5-21.
^ Kiso, Akiko (1973). "Sophocles' "Phaedra" and the Phaedra of the "First Hippolytus"". Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 20 (20): 22–36. doi:10.1111/j.2041-5370.1973.tb00122.x. ISSN 0076-0730. JSTOR 43646307.