Book Description
Storylines, highlights, and deeper meanings of all 44 surviving tragedies and comedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes.

Format: biographical & historical background information for each playwright; individual play begins with an excerpt from the dialogue on the title page, Dramatis Personae, the Essay on the play, then a Concluding Comment, featuring an anecdote or other item of interest.

Imparts information on various subjects touching the plays: the plague (quoting from the first and best documentary account to come down to us on the nightmarish epidemic -- the account of Thucydides); city-states Sparta and Athens; the Persian and Peloponnesian wars; Greek mythology and the Greek theatre; women's rights advocacy by Aeschylus and Euripides; Athens' participatory democracy; ethics and idealism as opposed to materialism; the earliest utopias, etc.

Note: GUIDE TO GREEK DRAMA is both a reference book and a work intended for general reading to introduce all of these ancient Athenian plays in a reader-friendly manner. ... Read more

Book Description
S.E. Bassett's classic work The Poetry of Homer investigates the rhetorical techniques that enable the Iliad and the Odyssey speak to both ancient and modern audiences. Somewhat neglected in the decades after its posthumous publication in 1938, it has become an immensely influential work and has left its mark on a generation of Classicists. ... Read more

Book Description
In considering the practice and theory of translating plays into English from Classical Greek from a theatrical perspective, Found in Translation also addresses wider issues of transferring any piece of theatre from a source into a target language. The history of translating classical tragedy and comedy, here fully investigated for the first time, demonstrates how through the ages translators have, wittingly or unwittingly, appropriated Greek plays and made them reflect socio-political concerns of their own era. Chapters are devoted to topics including verse and prose, mask and non-verbal language, stage directions and subtext and translating the comic. Among the plays discussed as 'case studies' are Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Euripides' Medea and Alcestis. The book concludes with a consideration of the boundaries between 'translation' and 'adaptation', followed by an Appendix of every translation of Greek tragedy and comedy into English from the 1550s to the present day. ... Read more

Book Description
In this book, David Wiles introduces ancient Greek theater to students and enthusiasts interested in knowing how the plays were performed. Theater was a ceremony bound up with fundamental activities in ancient Athenian life and Wiles explores those elements that created the theater of the time. Actors rather than writers are the book's main concern and Wiles examines how the actor used the resources of story-telling, dance, mask, song and visual action to create a large-scale event that would shape the life of the citizen community. ... Read more

Book Description
Contemporary Greek plays by Loula Anagnostaki, George Skourtis, Dimitris Kehaidis and Elaini Haviara. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good value, some classic translations
Louis MacNeice was a more significant 20th cent. poet, and a better Greek scholar, both of those together, than nearly any translator of Greek tragedy I can think of. His "Agamemnon" alone justifies this volume. Also unique is C. T. Murphy's "Lysistrata", produced for a Harvard College student production (perhaps not one with Leonard Bernstein incidental music, though that was the rumor when I was Murphy's student at Oberlin). The Sophocles and Euripides translations are serviceable at least. Given that one play in the Oxford Greek Tragedy in New Translations series costs $8 or 9, and that Chicago or Penguin organize by single playwrites, and that the standard theatre history anthologies contain inferior translations in pricier volumes, this remains a terrific value for the money. ... Read more

Book Description
A cycle of eleven episodes told in Story Theater form, a narrator speaking and life-sized puppets performing simultaneously, The Greek Myths tells the story of Greek mythology from the first moments of creation through its version of the story of the flood, the reign of Zeus, and the trials, tribulations and joys during Zeus's long and continuing reign. It brings to life some of the most memorable episodes and characters in that saga: the Titans, the Cyclops, Zeus himself, Echo and Narcissus, Cupid and Psyche, Theseus, Orpheus and Euridice, and many, many more. This version of the stories by playwright Leon Katz is based on the Roman poet Ovid's epic poem Metamorphoses, the most popular and witty retelling of the tales in Western literature. The Greek Myths has an impressive track record. It ran for ten years in the Vagabond Puppet Company's production and during that time, toured throughout the US. Its appeal has been strong with both young audiences and adults alike and was seen by thousands of theatregoers. Lois Bohovesky, artistic director of the Vagabond Puppet Company, explains,"For life-sized puppets performing Greek myths for children, the script had to be exciting, humorous and certainly accurate, the language crystal clear, and the poetry flowing naturally as speech ... We all know people like these gods - Zeus, for instance, the consummate politician. The play is full of humor, and the characters so well written that the actor's job is an easy one." ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Just what the title says
This book is no more than the title promises: a short introduction.If you want to read detailed analyses of the Greek theatre, this isn't the book for you, but if you want a book to get you started and teach you the basic vocabulary, this one is as good as any. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Widely known for his puppet versions of Greek plays, classicist and theatre scholar Peter Arnott approaches Greek drama as a living art form, not as an antiquarian study. In this work, Arnott explores the way Greek drama was performed in ancient society, emphasizing the practical staging of these works and how the buildings themselves imposed particular constraints on actors and writers alike. In the process, he illuminates the literary patterns of these works as well as revealing the dynamic between performance and audience response. Examining each aspect of production -- actors, chorus, audience, costume, speech -- Arnott elucidates the organic relationship of Greek dramas to their original settings.The result is a captivating assessment of an ancient art form and a lively recreation of Greek plays. ... Read more

Book Description
This edition provides an introduction and commentary (including metrical analysis) to this intriguing 'pro-satyr' play, based on a Thessalian legend. ... Read more

Book Description
Rich anthologies of dramatic art and critical insight - varied, stimulating, broad in its view and deep in its perceptions...exciting variety of translations...enlightening essays from some of the most stiumlating minds of the century.- Leonard C. Pronko, author, Theatre East and West, Chair, Dept. of Theatre, Pomona College Includes: Aristophanes: Lysistrata, translated by Donald Sutherland; The Birds, translated by Walter Kerr; Menander: The Grouch, translated by Sheila D'Atri; Plautus: The Menaechmi, translated by Palmer Bovie; The Haunted House, translated by Palmer Bovie; Terence: The Self-Tormentor, translated by Palmer Bovie. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Introduction To Classical Comedy
Robert W. Corrigan has complied a wonderful balance of Greek and Roman comedies.The collection is ideal for anyone interested in an overview of classical comedy or wishing to explore the roots of modern comedy.

Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" and "The Birds," andMenander's "The Grouch" represent the Greek plays."TheMenaechmi" (sometimes called 'The Brother's Menaechmi') and"Mostellaria" (sometimes called 'The Haunted House' or 'TheGhost')" by Plautus and "The Self Tormentor" by Terencerepresent the Roman plays.

The plays themselves are a wonderful study ofcomedy from it's dramatic origins to the Roman's translations of Greek"New Comedy."Students of Shakespeare and renaissance drama willfind this book especially useful as "The Menaechmi" is the sourceof Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" and plays like "TheGrouch" and "The Self Tormentor" greatly influenced theFrench comic playwright, Jean-Baptiste Moliere.

The introductions scribedby Corrigan are outstanding.A master of ancient drama, he has a passionthat creeps into all his essays.Unfortunately, the introductions by thetranslators sometimes fail to relate to the boarder subject of comedy andleave a little to be desired.

Regarding the translations themselves, fourdifferent authors have translated the six plays and some are better thanothers.Walter Kerr's translation of "The Birds" is the best ofthe collection.Palmer Bovie's translations of the three Roman plays aresolid and reflect Plautus' word-play well (which also influencedShakespeare).

My only criticism of the book is that some of theintroductions are now dated by references to several Hollywood comedies andBroadway plays that might be obscure unless you have a background in thesesubjects.However, the book is for the plays themselves and the playsthemselves are delightful.Overall, I recommend this collection asintroduction to ancient comedy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Must Have Reference
Dr. Carlson does the remarkable by condensing the dominant Western theatre ideals and theories into a series of chapters. Major names and works are cited along with the theories. While a work of this sort cannot go into great detail, this book is a must have for anyone interested in theatre history and theory. ... Read more

Book Description
Why did Greek actors in the age of Sophocles always wear masks? David Wiles provides the first book-length study of this question. He surveys the evidence of vases and other monuments, arguing that they portray masks as part of a process of transformation, and that masks were never seen in the fifth century as autonomous objects. Wiles goes on to examine experiments with the mask in twentieth-century theatre, tracing a tension between the use of masks for possession and for alienation, and he identifies a preference among modern classical scholars for alienation. Wiles declines to distinguish the political aims of Greek tragedy from its religious aims, and concludes that an understanding of the mask allows us to see how Greek acting was simultaneously text-centred and body-centred. This book challenges orthodox views about how theatre relates to ritual, and provides insight into the creative work of the actor. ... Read more

Book Description
A selection of six tragedies that have had an immense influence on Western drama. They depict archtypes of the human condition and eternal dilemmas of morality and loyalty. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
An authoritative and energetic introduction to the theatre of Ancient Greece. An indispensible guide to the form, background and performance of plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Menander, the works of whom maintain a crucial influence over contemporary western drama. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from JOPERD--The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, published by American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) on October 1, 2003. The length of the article is 4579 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Teaching physical education with the inclusion style: the case of a Greek elementary school.(Teaching)
Author: Constantine Chatoupis
Publication: JOPERD--The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2003
Publisher: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD)
Volume: 74Issue: 8Page: 33(7)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more