A Guide To Ancient Greek Drama

by Ian C. Storey, Arlene Allan

This Blackwell Guide introduces ancient Greek drama, which flourished principally in Athens from the sixth century BC to the third century BC.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Plays, Classics

311 pages, Hardcover

First published January 14, 2004

Reviews

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this is two very different books glued together.

The first half deals with the history of Greek drama as it was conceived, written, and performed. It's sometimes tedious (or repetitive) reading and in some places the discussions feel "padded out", though there are really interesting insights peppered in here and there.

The discussions of the major Greek playwrights and the summaries of their works, though, are interesting and valuable ... though I have to imagine almost everybody would have already read those "greatest hits" of Greek drama before reaching for a book like this, so it's an odd inclusion.

I'd actually argue that the second half of the book should be republished on its own as a "primer" before students start reading Greek drama.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great as an intro to greek tragedy and comedy. Gives a much appreciated background and context,
portraits of the main authors Aischylos, Sophokles, Euripides (tragedy) and Aristophanes (comedy) and quick overviews of all (!) their works.

[kimmmxviii · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is tbh suuuch a good guide, love it. Great layout of the chapters and I will keep going back to this and use it for references.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good guide/overview of Greek drama. The authors have done a good job situating Attic drama in political, religious, civic, and cultural contexts, as well as providing a sense of the performance style and some of the uncertainties surrounding Greek drama. Also included, though probably less useful in general, are overviews of all of the extant Greek plays.