Menander: Samia (The Woman from Samos)

Menander: Samia (The Woman from Samos)
Author: Menander
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2013
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0521514282

The first edition for half a century of any play of Menander designed for English-speaking students reading it in Greek.

Menander: Samia

Menander: Samia
Author: Matthew Wright
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2020-11-12
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1350124788

Matthew Wright brings Menander's Samia to life by explaining how it achieves its comic effects and how it fits within the broader context of fourth-century Greek drama and society. He offers a scene-by-scene reading of the play, combining close attention to detail with broader consideration of major themes, in an approach designed to bring out the humour and nuance of each individual moment on stage, while also illuminating Menander's comic art. The play dramatizes a tangled story of mistakes, mishaps and misapprehensions leading up to the marriage of Moschion and Plangon. For most of the action the characters are at odds with one another owing to accidental delusions or deliberate deceptions, and it seems as if the marriage will be cancelled or indefinitely postponed; but ultimately everyone's problems are solved and the play ends happily. Samia is one of the best-preserved examples of fourth-century Greek comedy: celebrated within antiquity but subsequently lost for many years, it miraculously came back to light, in almost complete form, as a result of Egyptian papyrus finds during the 20th century.

The Cambridge Companion to Catullus

The Cambridge Companion to Catullus
Author: Ian Du Quesnay
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2021-04-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107193567

Comprehensive coverage, accessible to students and non-specialists, of one of the most popular poets of classical antiquity.

A Companion to Plautus

A Companion to Plautus
Author: Dorota Dutsch
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2020-03-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1118957989

An important addition to contemporary scholarship on Plautus and Plautine comedy, provides new essays and fresh insights from leading scholars A Companion to Plautus is a collection of original essays on the celebrated Old Latin period playwright. A brilliant comic poet, Plautus moved beyond writing Latin versions of Greek plays to create a uniquely Roman cultural experience worthy of contemporary scholarship. Contributions by a team of international scholars explore the theatrical background of Roman comedy, the theory and practice of Plautus’ dramatic composition, the relation of Plautus’ works to Roman social history, and his influence on later dramatists through the centuries. Responding to renewed modern interest in Plautine studies, the Companion reassesses Plautus’ works—plays that are meant to be viewed and experienced—to reveal new meaning and contemporary relevance. Chapters organized thematically offer multiple perspectives on individual plays and enable readers to gain a deeper understanding of Plautus’ reflection of, and influence on Roman society. Topics include metatheater and improvisation in Plautus, the textual tradition of Plautus, trends in Plautus Translation, and modern reception in theater and movies. Exploring the place of Plautus and Plautine comedy in the Western comic tradition, the Companion: Addresses the most recent trends in the study of Roman comedy Features discussions on religion, imperialism, slavery, war, class, gender, and sexuality in Plautus’ work Highlights recent scholarship on representation of socially vulnerable characters Discusses Plautus’ work in relation to Roman stages, actors, audience, and culture Examines the plot construction, characterization, and comic techniques in Plautus’ scripts Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to Plautus is an important resource for scholars, instructors, and students of both ancient and modern drama, comparative literature, classics, and history, particularly Roman history.

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
Author: Jelena Krstovic
Publisher: Classical and Medieval Literat
Total Pages: 600
Release: 2006-02
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780787680275

This volume covers such noted figures and topics as: Adam de la HalleAl-KindiMeister EckhartSophocles

Translating Classical Plays

Translating Classical Plays
Author: J. Michael Walton
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2016-04-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317300408

Translating Classical Plays is a selection of edited papers by J. Michael Walton published and delivered between 1997 and 2014. Of the four sections, each with a new introduction, the first two cover the history of translating classical drama into English and specific issues relating to translation for stage performance. The latter two are concerned with the three Greek tragedians, and the Greek and Roman writers of old and new comedy, ending with the hitherto unpublished text of a Platform Lecture given at the National Theatre in London comparing the plays of Plautus with Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The volume is an invaluable resource for anyone involved in staging or translating classical drama.

Aristophanes and Menander: Three Comedies

Aristophanes and Menander: Three Comedies
Author: Timothy J. Moore
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2014-09-03
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1624661874

Three Comedies features the work of three dramatic geniuses of the glorious, no-holds-barred tradition of ancient Athenian comedy. Here Aristophanes, the eight-hundred-pound gorilla of Old and Middle Comedy meets Menander, elephant in the room of New Comedy, in a match made possible by Douglass Parker--if not Athenian exactly, or even ancient, possibly the maddest chameleon ever to absorb the true colors of an ancient choral song, transpose a lost pun, or channel a venerable, giant, dung-eating cockroach for the benefit of those who couldn’t be there the first time. Timothy J. Moore offers concise and informative introductions and notes to Parker’s brilliant translation of Aristophanes' fantastical Peace and Money, the God and Menander’s lively, domestic Samia--and includes, as a bonus, Parker's James Constantine Lecture at the University of Virginia, "A Desolation Called Peace: Trials of an Aristophanic Translator."

The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre

The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre
Author: Marianne McDonald
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2007-05-31
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1139827251

This series of essays by prominent academics and practitioners investigates in detail the history of performance in the classical Greek and Roman world. Beginning with the earliest examples of 'dramatic' presentation in the epic cycles and reaching through to the latter days of the Roman Empire and beyond, this 2007 Companion covers many aspects of these broad presentational societies. Dramatic performances that are text-based form only one part of cultures where presentation is a major element of all social and political life. Individual chapters range across a two thousand year timescale, and include specific chapters on acting traditions, masks, properties, playing places, festivals, religion and drama, comedy and society, and commodity, concluding with the dramatic legacy of myth and the modern media. The book addresses the needs of students of drama and classics, as well as anyone with an interest in the theatre's history and practice.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre

The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre
Author: John Russell Brown
Publisher: Oxford Illustrated History
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2001
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780192854421

A scholarly look at 4,500 years of theater, beginning with its Greek origins and concluding with a study of theater since 1970.

Courtesans and Fishcakes

Courtesans and Fishcakes
Author: James N. Davidson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2011-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0226137430

As any reader of the Symposium knows, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates conversed over lavish banquets, kept watch on who was eating too much fish, and imbibed liberally without ever getting drunk. In other words, James Davidson writes, he reflected the culture of ancient Greece in which he lived, a culture of passions and pleasures, of food, drink, and sex before—and in concert with—politics and principles. Athenians, the richest and most powerful of the Greeks, were as skilled at consuming as their playwrights were at devising tragedies. Weaving together Greek texts, critical theory, and witty anecdotes, this compelling and accessible study teaches the reader a great deal, not only about the banquets and temptations of ancient Athens, but also about how to read Greek comedy and history.