Description

This vital and accessible overview of Greek drama from its origins to its later receotion includes 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 cinsiderations 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 Aristotelian 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.

Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978-1-350-32085-7 First published 2024

Reviews include

Reviews to follow