Product Overview
This comprehensive survey of the dramatic literature of the Greeks and Romans is intended to serve the needs and interests of a variety of readers: students of classical literature; students of English, world and comparative literature; and the general reader with an interest in the drama.
Of the thousands of plays written in antiquity only eighty-five are extant, most preserved in their entirety, some in extensive enough portions to make possible their reconstruction. Each of these plays has been analyzed and interpreted. It is necessary to point out that the interpretations are not intended to be definitive, but suggestive of the probably intent of the respective authors. To place the plays in their proper frame of reference, essential biographical data have been given for each playwright, and each period has been provided with a summary of the historical and cultural milieu in which they wrote. Special attention has been given to tracing the evolution of the classical drama from its birth in the cult of the Greek god Dionysus to its decline in the Roman Empire and its ultimate extinction with the rise of Christianity.
The bibliographies, containing more recent works in English selected from the vast literature on the subject, are intended to aid those who desire to explore more thoroughly particular authors, or topics. A special bibliography on the influences of the classical drama on later literatures is included. - Meyer Reinhold
