This is a vital and accessible overview of Greek drama from its origins to its later reception, including chapters on authors and dramas in their social and religious context as well as key aspects such as structure, character, staging and music. With contributions by 13 international scholars, world experts in their field, it provides readers with clear, authoritative, up-to-date considerations of both the theory and practice of Greek drama. While each chapter can stand in isolation, the overall structure takes readers on a natural progression – beginning with sources of evidence and origins, considering the major genres and their authors, examining the traditional Aristotelean components of drama in the context of performance, and ending with later reception. In doing so, it explores Greek drama as at once a religious act, a stage for political propaganda, an opportunity for questioning social issues, and pure entertainment – a stunning melange of poetry, music, dance, and visual spectacle, specific to, yet transcending, its immediate context. Written for students, practitioners and a general readership, it forms part of Bloomsbury’s Looking at… series, appealing to the same readership and providing context to existing volumes which focus on individual plays.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Contributors Preface A Brief Introduction: Greek Drama in Context (David Stuttard, Fellow of Goodenough College, UK) Sources and Context 1. Sources of Evidence for Ancient Greek Drama (Dr. Lucy C. M. M. Jackson, Assistant Professor in Classics [Ancient Greek Literature], Durham University, UK) 2. Sixth- to Fourth-Century BCE History and Society: a Brief Introduction (Professor Paul Cartledge, Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, UK) Origins and Genres 3. Origins: Dithyrambs, Dionysus and the Athenian Dionysia (Professor Vayos Liapis, Postgraduate Programme in Theatre Studies, The Open University of Cyprus, Cyprus) 4. Tragedy and Tragedians (Professor Menelaos Christopoulos, Professor of Ancient Greek Literature, University of Patras, Director of the Center for the Study of Myth and Religion in Greek and Roman Society, Greece) 5. Comedy and Comic Poets (Professor Alan Sommerstein, Emeritus Professor of Greek, University of Nottingham, UK) Elements of Greek Drama 6. Plot: Myth in Tragedy (Professor Robert Parker, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, New College, Oxford, UK) 7. Structure: Prologues, Choral Odes, Episodes, Messenger Speeches, and Endings (Professor Rush Rehm, Professor of Classics, Stanford University, USA) 8. Character: The Tragic and Comic Hero and Heroine (Professor Hanna Roisman, Arnold Bernhard Professor in Arts and Humanities, Colby University [retired], USA) 9. Thought: Religion, Politics and Philosophy (Professor Richard Seaford, Emeritus Professor Classics and Ancient Greek, University of Exeter, UK) 10. Opsis: Stagecraft and Performance (Professor C.W. Marshall, Professor of Greek, Department of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and Justin Dwyer, Sessional Lecturer, University of Victoria, Canada) 11. Music and Dance in Tragedy, Comedy and Dithyrambs (Professor Armand D’Angour, Professor of Classics, Jesus College, Oxford, UK) The Reception of Greek Drama 12. The Romanisation of Greek Drama: The Republic (Professor George W.M. Harrison, Department of Greek and Roman Studies, Carleton University, Canada) 13. The Later Reception of Greek Drama (Professor Fiona Macintosh, St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama, Curator of the Ioannou Centre, UK) Bibliography