The Cambridge Companion to Greek Comedy (Cambridge Companions to Literature) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521747406 ISBN 13: 9780521747400

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Greek comedy flourished in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, both in and beyond Athens. Aristophanes and Menander are the best-known writers whose work is in part extant, but many other dramatists are known from surviving fragments of their plays. This sophisticated but accessible introduction explores the genre as a whole, integrating literary questions (such as characterisation, dramatic technique or diction) with contextual ones (for example audience response, festival context, interface with ritual or political frames). In addition, it also discusses relevant historical issues (political, socio-economic and legal) as well as the artistic and archaeological evidence. The result provides a unique panorama of this challenging area of Greek literature which will be of help to students at all levels and from a variety of disciplines but will also provide stimulus for further research.

About this title

Book Description:

A sophisticated but accessible introduction to the full range of surviving Greek comedy of the fifth and fourth centuries BC. It combines literary perspectives with the exploration of relevant historical issues and the artistic and archaeological evidence, providing a unique panorama of this challenging area of ancient Greek literature.

About the Author:

Martin Revermann is Professor of Classics and Theatre Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Comic Business: Theatricality, Dramatic Technique and Performance Contexts of Aristophanic Comedy (2006). He also co-edited Performance, Iconography, Reception: Studies in Honour of Oliver Taplin (with P. Wilson, 2008) and Beyond the Fifth Century: Interactions with Greek Tragedy from the Fourth Century BCE to the Middle Ages (with I. Gildenhard, 2010). In addition, he is the author of articles on Greek comedy and tragedy, Brecht, Homer, theatre-related vase paintings and theatre theory.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0521747406
• ISBN 13: 9780521747400
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 518
• Editor: Revermann Martin