|
This Blackwell Guide provides a broad-ranging introduction to ancient Greek drama, which flourished principally in Athens from the sixth to the third century bc. All three genres of Greek drama are discussed - tragedy, comedy, and satyr play - as well as the five surviving playwrights - Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander, together with brief entries on lost playwrights. The Guide also addresses contextual issues, such as: the origins of the dramatic art forms; the conventions of the festivals, the theater, and the performers; the relationship between drama and the worship of Dionysos; the political dimension; and how to read and watch Greek drama. The final section consists of 46 one-page synopses of each of the surviving plays 1. Aspects of ancient Greek drama -- Drama -- The dramatic festivals -- Drama and Dionysos -- The theatrical space -- The performance -- Drama and the Polis -- 2. Greek tragedy -- On the nature of Greek tragedy -- Aeschylus -- Sophokles -- Euripides -- The other tragedians -- 3. The satyr-play -- 4. Greek comedy -- Origins -- Old Comedy -- The generations of Old Comedy -- Aristophanes -- Middle Comedy -- Menander and New Comedy -- 5. Approaching Greek drama -- Textual criticism and commentary -- New criticism -- Structuralism -- Myth and "version" -- Ritual and drama -- Psychoanalytic approaches -- Gender studies -- Performance criticism -- 6. Play synopses -- Aeschylus' Persians (Persae, Persai) -- Aeschylus' Seven (Seven against Thebes) -- Aeschylus' Suppliants (Suppliant women, Hiketides) -- Aeschylus' Oresteia -- Aeschylus' Agamemnon -- Aeschylus' Libation-bearers (Choephoroe) -- Aeschylus' Eumenides (Furies) -- Aeschylus' Prometheus bound (Prometheus Vinctus, Prometheus Desmotes) -- Sophokles' Ajax (Aias) -- Sophokles' Antigone -- Sophokles' Trachinian women (Trachiniai, Women of Trachis) -- Sophokles' Oedipus Tyrannos (King Oedipus, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus the King) -- Sophokles' Elektra (Electra) -- Sophokles' Philoktetes (Philoctetes) -- Sophokles' Oedipus at Kolonos (Colonus) -- Euripides' Alkestis (Alcestis) -- Euripides' Medea -- Euripides' Children of Herakles (Heraclidae, Herakleidai) -- Euripides' Hippolytos -- Euripides' Andromache -- Euripides' Hecuba (Hekabe) -- Euripides' Suppliant women (Suppliants, Hiketides) -- Euripides' Electra (Electra) -- Euripides' Herakles (Hercules Furens, The madness of Herakles) -- Euripides' Trojan women (Trades) -- Euripides' Iphigeneia among the Taurians (Iphigeneia in Tauris) -- Euripides' Ion -- Euripides' Helen -- Euripides' Phoenician women (Phoinissai) -- Euripides' Orestes -- Euripides' Iphigeneia at Aulis -- Euripides' Bacchae (Bacchants) -- Euripides' Cyclops -- [Euripides'] Rhesos -- Aristophanes' Acharnians -- Aristophanes' Knights (Hippeis, Equites, Horsemen) -- Aristophanes' Wasps (Sphekes, Vespae) -- Aristophanes' Peace (Pax, Eirene) -- Aristophanes' Clouds (Nubes, Nephelai) -- Aristophanes' Birds (Ornithes, Aves) -- Aristophanes' Lysistrate -- Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria (Thesmophoriazousai) -- Aristophanes' Frogs (Ranae, Batrachoi) -- Aristophanes' Assembly-women (Ekklesiazousai) -- Aristophanes' Wealth (Ploutos) -- Menander's The grouch (Old Cantankerous, Dyskolos) -- Menander's Samian woman (Samia) or Marriage-contract
|
