This newly updated second edition features wide-ranging, systematically organized scholarship in a concise introduction to ancient Greek drama, which flourished from the sixth to third century BC.
Covers all three genres of ancient Greek drama - tragedy, comedy, and satyr-drama
Surveys the extant work of Aeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander, and includes entries on 'lost' playwrights
Examines contextual issues such as the origins of dramatic art forms; the conventions of the festivals and the theater; drama's relationship with the worship of Dionysos; political dimensions of drama; and how to read and watch Greek drama
Includes single-page synopses of every surviving ancient Greek play
Preface to the First Edition xi
Preface to the Second Edition xiii
List of Figures xv
List of Maps and Plans xvi
Abbreviations and Signs xvii
1 Aspects of Ancient Greek Drama 1
Drama 1
The Dramatic Festivals 13
The Theatrical Space 24
The Performance 36
Drama, Dionysos and the Polis 51
2 Greek Tragedy 73
On the Nature of Greek Tragedy 79
Aeschylus 93
Sophokles 110
Euripides 133
The Other Tragedians 153
3 The Satyr-Drama 159
Cyclops 170
4 Greek Comedy 173
Origins 173
Old Comedy (486 - ca. 385) 177
The Generations of Old Comedy 197
Aristophanes 210
Greek Comedy and the Phlyax-vases 219
Middle Comedy 221
Menander and New Comedy 226
5 Approaching Greek Drama 237
Formal Criticism 237
Interdisciplinary Approaches 241
Visual Interpretations 247
Reception Studies 252
6 Play Synopses 256
Aeschylus' Persians 257
Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes 258
Aeschylus' Suppliants 259
Aeschylus' Oresteia 260
Aeschylus' Agamemnon 261
Aeschylus' Libation-Bearers (Choephoroe) 262
Aeschylus' Eumenides (Furies) 263
Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound 264
Sophokles' Ajax 265
Sophokles' Antigone 266
Sophokles' Trachinian Women 267
Sophokles' Oedipus Tyrannos 268
Sophokles' Elektra 269
Sophokles' Philoktetes 270
Sophokles' Oedipus at Kolonos 271
Euripides' Alkestis 272
Euripides' Medea 273
Euripides' Children of Herakles 274
Euripides' Hippolytos 275
Euripides' Andromache 276
Euripides' Hecuba 277
Euripides' Suppliant Women 278
Euripides' Elektra 279
Euripides' Herakles 280
Euripides' Trojan Women 281
Euripides' Iphigeneia among the Taurians 282
Euripides' Ion 283
Euripides' Helen 284
Euripides' Phoenician Women 285
Euripides' Orestes 286
Euripides' Iphigeneia at Aulis 287
Euripides' Bacchae 288
Euripides' Cyclops 289
[Euripides'] Rhesos 290
Aristophanes' Acharnians 291
Aristophanes' Knights 292
Aristophanes' Wasps 293
Aristophanes' Peace 294
Aristophanes' Clouds 295
Aristophanes' Birds 296
Aristophanes' Lysistrate 297
Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria 298
Aristophanes' Frogs 299
Aristophanes' Assembly-Women 300
Aristophanes' Wealth 301
Menander's The Grouch 302
Menander's Samian Woman 303
A Note on Meter 304
Glossary of Names and Terms 307
Timeline 311
Further Reading 316
Index 324
