(Applause Books). A collection of eight plays along with accompanying critical essays. Includes: "The Oresteia" Aeschylus; "Prometheus Bound" Aeschylus; "Oedipus the King" Sophocles; "Antigone" Sophocles; "Medea" Euripides; "The Bakkhai" Euripides; "Oedipus" Seneca; "Medea" Seneca.

(Applause Books). A collection of eight plays along with accompanying critical essays. Includes: "The Oresteia" Aeschylus; "Prometheus Bound" Aeschylus; "Oedipus the King" Sophocles; "Antigone" Sophocles; "Medea" Euripides; "The Bakkhai" Euripides; "Oedipus" Seneca; "Medea" Seneca.

The "Eumenides", the concluding drama in Aeschylus' sole surviving trilogy, the "Oresteia", is not only one of the most admired Greek tragedies, but also one of the most controversial and contested, both to specialist scholars and public intellectuals. It stands at the crux of the controversies over the relationship between the fledgling democracy of Athens and the dramas it produced during the City Dionysia, and over the representation of women in the theatre and their implied status in Athenian society. The "Eumenides" enacts the trial of Agamemnon's son Orestes, who had been ordered under the threat of punishment by the god Apollo to murder his mother Clytemnestra, who had earlier killed Agamemnon.In the "Eumenides", Orestes, hounded by the Eumenides (Furies), travels first to Delphi to obtain ritual purgation of his mother's blood, and then, at Apollo's urging, to Athens to seek the help of Athena, who then decides herself that an impartial jury of Athenians should decide the matter. Aeschylus thus presents a drama that shows a growing awareness of the importance of free will in Athenian thought through the mythologized institution of the first jury trial.

Rich anthologies of dramatic art and critical insight ä 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. ä Leonard C. Pronko author ÊTheatre East and WestÊ 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.

What happened to Greek tragedy after the death of Euripides? This book provides some answers, and a broad historical overview.

Oedipus, king of Thebes, is one of the giant figures of ancient mythology. Through the centuries, his story has inspired works of epic poetry, lyric poetry, tragedy, opera, a gospel musical and more. The myth has been famously deployed in psychology by Sigmund Freud. It may not be too bold to claim that Oedipus is the name from Greco-Roman mythology best known beyond the academy at the present time, thanks to Freud's famous phrase 'the Oedipus complex'. The most famous version of the Oedipus myth from antiquity is the Greek play by Sophocles. But there is another version, the Latin drama by the Roman philosopher and politician Seneca. Seneca's version is an entirely different treatment from that of Sophocles and reflects concerns special to the author and his Roman audience in the first century AD. Moreover, the play actually exercised a much greater influence on European literature and thought than has usually been suspected. This book offers a compact and incisive study of the multi-faceted Oedipus myth, of Seneca as dramatist, of the distinctive characteristics of Seneca's play and of the most important aspects of the reception of the play in European drama and culture. The scope of the book ranges chronologically from Homer's treatment of Oedipus myth in the Odyssey down to a twenty-first century Senecan treatment by a Lebanese Canadian dramatist. No knowledge of Latin or other foreign languages is required.

Drawing on insights from various disciplines (philology, archaeology, art) as well as from performance and reception studies, this volume shows how a heightened awareness of performance can enhance our appreciation of Greek and Roman theatre.