Description
Book SynopsisThis is a unique introduction to Greek tragedy that explores the plays as dramatic artifacts intended for performance and pays special attention to construction, design, staging, and musical composition.
Trade Review"A remarkable guide to recapturing the sights and sounds of Greek tragedy. David Raeburn draws on his long experience as teacher, translator and director to show in detail how a selection of famous plays can be studied – in English or the original Greek – as scripts for performance. He has plenty of thought-provoking discussion of the stage action to offer, and a special feature is his guidance on the rhythms of the original poetry, especially the choral lyrics, with audio recordings easily accessible online." - Pat Easterling, Cambridge University (Emeritus Regius)
"An invaluable book written with love and detailed understanding. It is based on a lifetime’s unique experience of producing each of these classical plays as a teacher and scholar at the highest level, therefore without equal in its field. Again and again Raeburn sees what these plays need for their staging and interpretation, largely because he has faced the challenge of putting them on the stage, whereas most classical commentators have not. He goes clearly and concisely to the heart of them in a style which all who read,produce, or have to study them will appreciate. A landmark both for our theatres’ actors and directors and for those in schools and universities who want to be taken to the central issues of each play and the ways in which character, speech, movement, and setting interrelate." - Robin Lane Fox, Oxford University
Table of ContentsPreface ix
About the Companion Website xi
1 Introduction 1
2 Aeschylus 15
3 Persae 21
4 The Oresteia 33
5 Sophocles 81
6 Antigone 87
7 Oedipus Tyrannus 105
8 Electra (Sophocles) 123
9 Euripides 137
10 Medea 143
11 Electra (Euripides) 157
12 Bacchae 173
Appendix A: Glossary of Greek Tragic Terms 189
Appendix B: Rhythm and Meter 191
Index 195
