This 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.

Preface 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

Greek Tragedies as Plays for Performance is a unique introduction to the genre that explores these works as dramatic artefacts intended for performance—instead of as ancient literature solely to be read and studied. Written by a scholar who combines his academic understanding of Greek tragedy with his singular theatrical experience of producing these ancient dramas for the modern stage, this text pays special attention to construction, design, staging, and musical composition in terms of the ancient medium and original resources. The author discusses the masters of the genre—Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—including similarities, differences, their use and development of Greek tragedy’s hybrid form, the significance that each poet attaches to familiar myths and his distinctive approach as a dramatic artist. The text examines 10 plays in detail, from Persae and TheOresteia to Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannus and then Medea and Bacchae, including the 2 Electra plays. It delves into important components of these dramas, including performances by the chorus and the 3 actors, the need to captivate audiences attending a major civic and religious festival, and the importance of the lyric sections for emotional effect. The book also contains a companion website, available upon publication at www.wiley.com/go/raeburn, with 136 audio recordings of Greek tragedy that illustrate the beauty of the Greek language and the powerful rhythms of the songs. With extended dramatic analysis of important Greek tragedies at an appropriate level for readers coming to the topic for the first time, this is a fresh and insightful foray into these ancient works of art.

"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 "This engaging enterprise will undoubtedly be most useful to classroom teachers and anyone interested in how Greek drama was originally staged or trying to mount an 'authentic' production today." (David Stuttard, Classics for All)