Description

Book Synopsis
Menander (c. 341-291 BC) was the foremost innovator of Greek New Comedy, a dramatic style that moved away from the fantastical to focus upon the problems of ordinary Athenians. This collection contains the full text of 'Old Cantankerous' (Dyskolos), the only surviving complete example of New Comedy, as well as fragments from works including 'The Girl from Samos' and 'The Rape of the Locks', all of which are concerned with domestic catastrophes, the hazards of love and the trials of family life. Written in a poetic style regarded by the ancients as second only to Homer, these polished works - profoundly influential upon both Roman playwrights such as Plautus and Terence, and the wider Western tradition - may be regarded as the first true comedies of manners.

Table of Contents
Plays and FragmentsPreface
Introduction
Further Reading
Old Cantankerous
The Girl from Samos
The Arbitration
The Rape of the Locks
The Shield
The Sikyonian
The Man She Hated
The Double Deceiver and The Two Bacchises by Plautus
The Farmer
The Toady
The Harpist
The Hero
The Phantom
The Girl Possessed
The Girl from Perinthos
Title Unknown
Some Longer Fragments
Some Fragments Doubtfully Attributed to Menander
Notes

Plays and Fragments Penguin Classics

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    A Paperback by Menander, Norma Miller, Norma Miller

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 9/24/1987 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN-13 9780140445015
      978-0140445015
      ISBN-10 0140445013
      Also in:
      Poetry ELT & Literary Studies Ancient, classical and medieval texts

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Menander (c. 341-291 BC) was the foremost innovator of Greek New Comedy, a dramatic style that moved away from the fantastical to focus upon the problems of ordinary Athenians. This collection contains the full text of 'Old Cantankerous' (Dyskolos), the only surviving complete example of New Comedy, as well as fragments from works including 'The Girl from Samos' and 'The Rape of the Locks', all of which are concerned with domestic catastrophes, the hazards of love and the trials of family life. Written in a poetic style regarded by the ancients as second only to Homer, these polished works - profoundly influential upon both Roman playwrights such as Plautus and Terence, and the wider Western tradition - may be regarded as the first true comedies of manners.

      Table of Contents
      Plays and FragmentsPreface
      Introduction
      Further Reading
      Old Cantankerous
      The Girl from Samos
      The Arbitration
      The Rape of the Locks
      The Shield
      The Sikyonian
      The Man She Hated
      The Double Deceiver and The Two Bacchises by Plautus
      The Farmer
      The Toady
      The Harpist
      The Hero
      The Phantom
      The Girl Possessed
      The Girl from Perinthos
      Title Unknown
      Some Longer Fragments
      Some Fragments Doubtfully Attributed to Menander
      Notes

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