Making of Menander's Comedy - Hardcover

Goldberg, Sander M.

9780485111897: Making of Menander's Comedy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0485111896 ISBN 13: 9780485111897

Publisher: Athlone Press, 1980

The discovery on papyrus of plays by Menander, the greatest writer of Greek New Comedy, at last makes possible an evaluation on his own terms of an ancient author who, through the adaptations of Plautus and Terence, profoundly influenced the course of western drama. The present study establishes a critical perspective for understanding the kind of comedy Menander wrote, his roots, the theatrical effects he sought, and the extent of his achievement. Chapters on the major plays analyse their techniques of construction and characterisation, suggesting both the strengths and the limitations of Menander's comic tradition.

This study is based on the Oxford Greek text but cites all ancient authors in translation to open the discussion to a wider audience. An introductory chapter places the tradition of New Comedy in the history of drama, and modern parallels are drawn wherever helpful. It will therefore be of value to students of drama as well as to classicists.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Book Description:

This Bloomsbury Academic Collection consists of a wide-range of classic research studies in Literary Criticism.

About the Author:

Sander M. Goldberg teaches in the Department of Classics at the University of California, Berkeley.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.