Dear Keith,
It's a good twenty years since I studied Greek at university, so I am certainly not aware of any textual criticism that approaches the play from a purely disability perspective. Your reading of the text is correct - it does deal with the return of an "exposed" infant, a practice that has been identified by disability studies scholars as a method of disposal of those who had impairments. Taking on board Larry's concern about out ability to adequately perceive the mindset of those who lived in ancient Athens, I still believe that the play would beneift from being critiqued from a disability perspective. The political dimension, particularly the division amongst city states at that time (often overlooked by scholars who tend to relate to "Ancient Greece" as somehow culturally homogeneous) must also be addressed, and perhaps the question asked about whether there was some serious questioning of the practice of "exposure" on the basis of impairment (although used here to avoid the fulfillment of a prophecy) on the part of Athens as opposed to, say, the more militaristic Sparta, amongst other things.
Good luck with the quest. If I come across anything I will let you know.
Michael Bleasdale
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