Classical Tragedy Greek and Roman: Eight Plays with Critical Essays

by Various, Hal Leonard Corporation (Created by)

A collection of eight plays along with accompanying critical essays. “The Oresteia” – Aeschylus; “Prometheus Bound” – Aeschylus; “Oedipus the King” – Sophocles; “Antigone” – Sophocles; “Medea” – Euripides; “The Bakkhai” – Euripides; “Oedipus” – Seneca; “Medea” – Seneca.

Genres: Theatre, Classics, Mythology, Plays, Fiction, Drama

568 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Parker C. Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhh the Cycle of Revenge.

These 3 directors are competing against one another in a Dionysian festival. A lot of stroking of Athens ego with praising their established law compared to other barbarous places (like where Medea was from in Euripides play). Also a lot of battle between government and self (religion/morals). Double standard for women is seen heavily throughout which should not be a surprise, yet the usage of women was a good technique to instill shock and reactions from their audience by putting them in roles or positions which would have been abnormal. Blood for Blood! Is throughout which is why the main theme is the Cycle of Revenge... overall very easy read.

[Cisca Schreefel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved Greek mythology and I'm sure I must have read some Greek tragedy, probably Oedipus or Medea, in high school, but I truly fell in love with the Classics when I was in community college, where I was fortunate to cross paths with an incredible professor who was brilliant and inspiring. This book was used in a humanities course that focused on Greek literature, and, naturally, this covered the drama portion of the course. It includes two plays each from the three Greek tragedians--Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles--and two plays from the Roman playwright, Seneca. Though I was already familiar with Oedipus and Medea, I was completely blown away by The Oresteia and Prometheus Bound. I think that after reading these plays--and Homer and Hesiod--I made up my mind that I wanted to be a Classicist.

This book is a good introduction to Greek and Roman tragedy, and each tragedy has an accompanying critical essay. With only two plays from each tragedian here, hopefully it will inspire the reader to explore other plays not contained in this book.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plays are all classics but these translations are awful. They don't capture the power of the words at all.