The Performance Reception of Greek Tragedy in Ancient Theatres

Reconstructs the reception of Greek tragedy in ancient theatres based on an extensive collection of textual and visual sources.

Sebastiana Nervegna (Author)

9781107111370, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 April 2025

438 pages
24.9 x 17.5 x 3 cm, 0.94 kg

Greek tragedy enjoyed a rich afterlife on ancient stages. This book reconstructs that history across the entire Mediterranean area, from the fourth century BC to the early third century AD. It is based on an extensive collection of primary sources ranging from inscriptions and festival catalogues to literary records, tragedy-related vases from fourth-century Sicily and South Italy, and the Greek models of Roman Republican tragedies, with each one placed in its historical context. Sebastiana Nervegna identifies the Greek tragedies that formed the ancient theatrical repertoire, assesses how actors contributed to their survival and considers how public audiences continued to enjoy the theatrical masterpieces of Classical Athens. This is the first work entirely dedicated to the circulation of Greek tragedies among the larger public throughout antiquity.

List of figures
Note on spelling, conventions and abbreviations
Introduction: reconstructing the performance reception of Greek tragedy in antiquity
1. Athens, Attica and the beginning of the performance reception
2. Poets and plays: performing tragedies from fourth-century Athens to republican Rome
3. Actors, festivals and tragedies from the Hellenistic to the Roman period
4. Selecting tragedies for audiences and readers
Epilogue performing classics
Appendix I: sources for the performance reception of identifiable Greek tragedies
Appendix II: sources for the performance reception of unidentifiable Greek tragedies
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]