The Greek Tragic Theatre

by Harold Baldry

From chapter I
If scientists ever invent a time machine which can transport us back through history, one of the most interesting targets for our time capsule will be a theatre performance in Athens in the fifth century B.C. -the original home of Greek drama, in the period when all the tragedies now extant were first published. In that event, much of what has been written on the Greek theatre may be proved wrong -including, no doubt, a great deal of what is said in this book. But in the meantime, how far can we go towards making such a visit by scrutinizing the surviving evidence and by an effort of the historical imagination? We can read the extant plays, but howfar can we place them in their original historical setting? How much can we recapture of th total experience of which the texts we now possess once formed a part?

This, in its simplest terms, is the problem with which this book attempts to deal, though for questions of space it is limited to tragedy only.

Contents

Figures and plates
Preface

1. The Problem
2. The Evidence
3. The City
4. The Festivals
5. The Theatre
6. The Performance
7. The Plays
8. Orestes´ Revenge
9. The Decline

Bibliography
Index

Genres: History, Theatre, Nonfiction

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Harold Caparne Baldry

Reviews

[Truls Ljungström]

Ganska rolig översikt, men knappast världsomvälvande. Om man är intresserad av antik religion, antik teater eller tradering av idéer i det antika propagandamediet, är detta en bra bok. Den illustrerar inte bara det inomlitterära sättet att strukturera teatern, utan också hur teatern fungerade som sätt att vidmakthålla samhällsideologin under antiken, genom ett slags ironiserande metadiskussion mellan publik och skådespelsförfattare där historiska teman förstärktes, även under det att de omtolkades.

[Giulia]

Veramente interessante ed esaustivo, molto scorrevole. La scrittura dà l'impressione di vedere il teatro greco così come lo vedevano i suoi contemporanei. Fa venire la tentazione di leggere tutte le tragedie!

[B. Rule]

This charming little account of the theatrical experience of Greek tragedy at its 5th century BC height is both vividly described and refreshingly free of baseless speculation. Baldry declines to venture beyond the available evidence in giving sturdy accounts of the physical structure of the theater, its place in society, the trappings of its various principals, and the evolving nature of the plays presented. He highlights the religious origins of tragic theater and its role in civic life at Athens (and other sites). It's easy to fall blind to the radical differences in our experience of Greek drama as we've received it and how it was experienced by its originators; no author can fully close that imaginative gap but this volume will certainly help you narrow it. Baldry also concludes with a very well-done capsule analysis of some key differences between Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and how some of the traditions of their time ossified and altered over the next 600 years or so of ancient culture. Worth checking out.

[Paul Howlett]

I have bought lots of books on Greek Tragic theatre, and there are many considering what Little solid evidence we have about actually what went on at these events, rather than wade through many publications that get involved with the history of cultural interpretation since those distant times or entertain apparently new perspectives and send them up the flagpole, this is a fairly methodical based introduction that was written in the 1970s from which to begin exploration of the subject in many directions .

[ilaria]

I started this book before my forth year of classical high school and I helped me through the whole year as it is full of facts that you cannot find in a standard school book that are extremely useful for projects and tests. I'd recommend it to all the Greek literature students but also theatre students and enthusiasts as i goes in depth on how everything worked in the V century BC!

[Dan]

Acquired 1989
The Word, Montreal, Quebec

[AC]

excellent, brief account of the performative aspects of Greek tragedy - down to the little details... a great little book