Product Description

This book is an advanced critical introduction to Greek tragedy. It is written specifically for the reader who does not know Greek and who may be unfamiliar with the context of the Athenian drama festival but who nevertheless wants to appreciate the plays in all their complexity. Simon Goldhill aims to combine the best contemporary scholarly criticism in classics with a wide knowledge of modern literary studies in other fields. He discusses the masterpieces of Athenian drama in the light of contemporary critical controversies in such a way as to enable the student or scholar not only to understand and appreciate the texts of the most commonly read plays, but also to evaluate and utilize the range of approaches to the problems of ancient drama.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74987 in Books
• Published on: 1986-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 316 pages

Customer Reviews

What did the Butler see?
Stardate 7738

Simon Goldhill has always been my favourite author of classical works, but I must admit from the start that this is not my favourite of his. For example, "Iphigenia in Tauris" AKA "Iphigenia Among the Taurians", was superior in the level of critical analysis shown. This book claims to be for the advanced reader but realistically it is understandably by most 10 year olds. Also, the tragedies are remarkably untragedic. I was barely moved by any of them. Where were the starving African children? Mr S. Goldhill has clearly never worked for Oxfam and I would urge him to do so before attempting to write another book in this vein. Maybe comedy is more his style? Certainly, large portions of this book are side-splitting. Mr Goldhill's musings on Sophocles' "Electra" are among the most amusing pieces of insight I've ever read. "Electra should've stuck to doing the washing up" - Classic! That was a little joke of my own by the way.
In conclusion, this book is easy to read but lacks the depth of some of Sim-Mate's earlier works. Nevertheless I would recommend it to anyone who likes tragedy and yet still has a sense of humour.