Article Dans Une Revue Quality and Quantity Année : 2026

Status, Stakes, and Decision Predictability: A Measurement Approach with Greek Tragedy

Résumé

Social status is widely assumed to structure everyday action, but how does this relationship hold in the high-stake narratives of tragedy? We explore the role of decision-making in ancient Greek theater, focusing on the tension between surprise and convention in tragic storytelling. Relying on a hand-annotated corpus of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, we quantitatively analyze how social status shapes characters' interactions and influences the predictability of their decisions, ultimately creating suspense for the audience. Indeed, expressions of will and decisions in ancient Greek theater create meaningful links between characters, and social status influences characters' interactions through the frequency of their actions and decisions on stage. Despite the structuring role of status in ancient Athens, decision outcomes in tragedy exhibit unpredictability precisely where authority would suggest order. Our contribution also includes a portable scheme for extracting decisions and stakes from texts.

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Dates et versions

hal-05355413 , version 1 (08-11-2025)

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Laurent Gauthier. Status, Stakes, and Decision Predictability: A Measurement Approach with Greek Tragedy. Quality and Quantity, 2026, 60, pp.5495-5518. ⟨10.1007/s11135-025-02496-x⟩. ⟨hal-05355413⟩
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