Greek Tragedy: An Introduction

by Bernhard Zimmermann, Thomas Marier (Translator)

In lively and thorough summaries of the major works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Zimmermann examines such topics as techniques of characterization, conditions and conventions of stage performances, musical and metrical aspects, and the religious and political content of the plays.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1991

Reviews

[Chris Via]

Main takeaways:

1. Greek tragedy is the result of honoring the god Dionysus with an agon (a poetic competition).
2. Each competitor submitted a tetralogy: 3 tragedies and 1 comedy (to lighten the mood).
3. Aeschylus is the greatest. In fact, by popular vote, the one-time-performance rule was broken to bring his work back to the stage.
4. The tragedy is an evolution of the dithyramb.
5. There is always an interplay between the chorus and the actors.
6. The audience of Greek tragedy was already well acquainted with the material, i.e. the myths, thanks to Hesiod and Homer.
7. The audience was more interested in how the poet would get to the prescribed conclusions.
8. There were set metrical schemes the poets would use in order to convey certain things.

[Mike]

interesting topic I haven't looked at in 30 plus years!

[David]

Basic and easy to read understanding for students.