A Guide To Ancient Greek Drama

by Storey, Ian C.; Allan, Arlene

• ISBN13: 9781405102155
• ISBN10: 1405102152
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-14
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This Blackwell Guide introduces ancient Greek drama, which flourished principally in Athens from the sixth century BC to the third century BC. A broad-ranging and systematically organised introduction to ancient Greek drama. Discusses all three genres of Greek drama - tragedy, comedy, and satyr play. Provides overviews of the five surviving playwrights - Aeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander, and brief entries on lost playwrights. Covers contextual issues such as: the origins of dramatic art forms; the conventions of the festivals and the theatre; the relationship between drama and the worship of Dionysos; the political dimension; and how to read and watch Greek drama. Includes 46 one-page synopses of each of the surviving plays.

Author Biography

Ian C. Storey is Professor of Classics and Ancient History and Principal of Otonabee College, Trent University, Ontario. He is the author of Eupolis: Poet of Old Comedy (2003).

Arlene Allan is Assistant Professor of Classics and Ancient History, Trent University, Ontario.

Table of Contents

Preface	x
List of Figures	xii
List of Maps	xiii
Abbreviations and Signs	xiv
Aspects of Ancient Greek Drama	1	(71)
Drama	1	(13)
The Dramatic Festivals	14	(10)
Drama and Dionysos	24	(10)
The Theatrical Space	34	(12)
The Performance	46	(15)
Drama and the Polis	61	(11)
Greek Tragedy	72	(84)
On the Nature of Greek Tragedy	77	(16)
Aeschylus	93	(18)
Sophokles	111	(20)
Euripides	131	(20)
The Other Tragedians	151	(5)
The Satyr-Play	156	(13)
Greek Comedy	169	(61)
Origins	169	(4)
Old Comedy	173	(22)
The Generations of Old Comedy	195	(13)
Aristophanes	208	(9)
Middle Comedy	217	(4)
Menander and New Comedy	221	(9)
Approaching Greek Drama	230	(11)
Textual Criticism and Commentary	230	(1)
New Criticism	231	(1)
Structuralism	232	(1)
Myth and ``Version''	233	(2)
Ritual and Drama	235	(1)
Psychoanalytic Approaches	236	(1)
Gender Studies	237	(1)
Performance Criticism	238	(3)
Play Synopses	241	(49)
Aeschylus' Persians (Persae, Persai)	243	(1)
Aeschylus' Seven (Seven against Thebes)	244	(1)
Aeschylus' Suppliants (Suppliant Women, Hiketides)	245	(1)
Aeschylus' Oresteia	246	(1)
Aeschylus' Agamemnon	247	(1)
Aeschylus' Libation-Bearers (Choephoroe)	248	(1)
Aeschylus' Eumenides (Furies)	249	(1)
Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound (Prometheus Vinctus, Prometheus Desmotes)	250	(1)
Sophokles' Ajax (Aias)	251	(1)
Sophokles' Antigone	252	(1)
Sophokles' Trachinian Women (Trachiniai, Women of Trachis)	253	(1)
Sophokles' Oedipus Tyrannos (King Oedipus, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus the King)	254	(1)
Sophokles' Elektra (Electra)	255	(1)
Sophokles' Philoktetes (Philoctetes)	256	(1)
Sophokles' Oedipus at Kolonos (Colonus)	257	(1)
Euripides' Alkestis (Alcestis)	258	(1)
Euripides' Medea	259	(1)
Euripides' Children of Herakles (Heraclidae, Herakleidai)	260	(1)
Euripides' Hippolytos	261	(1)
Euripides' Andromache	262	(1)
Euripides' Hecuba (Hekabe)	263	(1)
Euripides' Suppliant Women (Suppliants, Hiketides)	264	(1)
Euripides' Elektra (Electra)	265	(1)
Euripides' Herakles (Hercules Furens, The Madness of Herakles)	266	(1)
Euripides' Trojan Women (Troades)	267	(1)
Euripides' Iphigeneia among the Taurians (Iphigeneia in Tauris)	268	(1)
Euripides' Ion	269	(1)
Euripides' Helen	270	(1)
Euripides' Phoenician Women (Phoinissai)	271	(1)
Euripides' Orestes	272	(1)
Euripides' Iphigeneia at Aulis	273	(1)
Euripides' Bacchae (Bacchants)	274	(1)
Euripides' Cyclops	275	(1)
[Euripides'] Rhesos	276	(1)
Aristophanes' Acharnians	277	(1)
Aristophanes' Knights (Hippeis, Equites, Horsemen)	278	(1)
Aristophanes' Wasps (Sphekes, Vespae)	279	(1)
Aristophanes' Peace (Pax, Eirene)	280	(1)
Aristophanes' Clouds (Nubes, Nephelai)	281	(1)
Aristophanes' Birds (Ornithes, Aves)	282	(1)
Aristophanes' Lysistrate	283	(1)
Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria (Thesmophoriazousai)	284	(1)
Aristophanes' Frogs (Ranae, Batrachoi)	285	(1)
Aristophanes' Assembly-Women (Ekklesiazousai)	286	(1)
Aristophanes' Wealth (Ploutos)	287	(1)
Menander's The Grouch (Old Cantankerous, Dyskolos)	288	(1)
Menander's Samian Woman (Samia) or Marriage-contract	289	(1)
A Note on Meter	290	(3)
Glossary of Names and Terms	293	(3)
Further Reading	296	(9)
Index	305