The Stagecraft of Aeschylus The Dramatic Use of Exits and Entrances in Greek Tragedy

by Taplin, Oliver

• ISBN13: 9780198144861
• ISBN10: 0198144865
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-01-04
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

The visual effect of the staging of Aeschylus' plays was an essential part of their impact. And yet all that survives today are the scripts. Imagination, helped by anachronistic sources, has played the chief role for those dealing with the dramaturgy of Aeschylus' works, and the result hasusually been stages crowded with extras and equipment.In this book, the author approaches the subject from a completely different angle. He clears the stage and looks for clues of Aeschylus' stagecraft in the texts of the plays themselves. He concentrates his study in an analysis of the exits and entrances in Aeschylus' works with constant reference tothe practice of Sophocles and Euripides as well. His arguments and conclusions are fascinating and thought-provoking, and make the book indispensable for anyone interested in ancient Greek drama and its staging.

Table of Contents

References and Abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction
Aims and Scope	p. 1
Visual Meaning	p. 12
Text and Stage Action	p. 28
Spectacle in Aeschylus	p. 39
Action and Formal Structure	p. 49
Persai	p. 61
Seven Against Thebes	p. 129
Hiketides	p. 192
Prometheus	p. 240
Agamemnon	p. 276
Choephoroi	p. 333
Eumenides	p. 362
Appendices
The Fragments	p. 416
The Stage Resources of the Fifth Century Theatre	p. 434
The Skene in Aeschylus	p. 452
The Authenticity of Prometheus Bound	p. 460
[Aristotle] Poetics Chapter 12	p. 470
Aristotle Poetics on [characters not reproducible]	p. 477
Bibliography	p. 480
Indexes	p. 491
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