The Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama (Companion to Literature) - Hardcover

Thorburn Jr, John E

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816052026 ISBN 13: 9780816052028

Publisher: Facts on File, 2005

Synopsis

Examines the history and development of ancient Greek and Roman drama from the late 6th century BCE through the 1st century CE. Entries cover the 80 complete plays that survived from the classical era; the major authors; the background, characters, and themes of the dramas; and the conventions and practices of their respective theaters.

About this title

About the Author:

John E. E. Thorburn, Jr., teaches Latin, Greek, and classical drama at Baylor University.

From Booklist:

Written for undergraduate students who have no previous knowledge of classical studies or ancient Greek or Latin, this volume "focuses on the eight major classical playwrights" (Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides, Menander, Plautus, Seneca, Sophocles, and Terence); their 85 surviving dramatic works; and major characters in the important tragedies along with historical and mythological characters, places, events, terms, and other items "important to the understanding of classical drama."

Before the entries, there is a small map detailing mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea. Most of the alphabetically arranged entries are brief. The longest entries, which are those for individual plays, cover several pages and offer approximate date, a summary, and a commentary. Many entries include a bibliography, and many also have a list of ancient sources.

Five appendixes follow the A-Z entries. Appendix 1 contains a list of both the ancient and modern titles of all the plays attributed to each of the eight playwrights. Appendix 2 is a listing of classical playwrights, noting language, genre, and dates. Appendix 3 lists all of the titles attributed to any classical playwright, including fragmented or nonsurviving plays. Appendix 4 is a chronology of significant years in the ancient Greek and Roman drama world. Finally, appendix 5 is a topically arranged bibliography of modern books related to classical drama.

This is good beginner's guide to classical drama and would be appropriate for both public libraries and academic libraries serving an undergraduate population. Jennifer Dawson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Facts on File
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0816052026
• ISBN 13: 9780816052028
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 680