The Lost End of Menander's Epitrepontes
Author : Ernst Honigmann
Publisher :
Page : 54 pages
File Size : 43,71 MB
Release : 1950
Category :
ISBN :
Author : Ernst Honigmann
Publisher :
Page : 54 pages
File Size : 43,71 MB
Release : 1950
Category :
ISBN :
Author : Alan H. Sommerstein
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 153 pages
File Size : 42,27 MB
Release : 2021-04-08
Category : Drama
ISBN : 1350023655
This book introduces readers who may have no previous knowledge of Menander's comedies to Epitrepontes (The Arbitration), arguably the most exquisitely crafted of his better-preserved plays. It explains what we know about the play, how we know it, and how far we can tentatively fill in the gaps in our knowledge. Sommerstein analyses the nature of the dramatic genre (Athenian New Comedy) to which Epitrepontes belongs. He assesses the plot and the characters, every one of whom makes an essential contribution to the uplifting outcome, and the social and ethical assumptions that dramatist and audience shared. As well as looking at the influences of earlier drama and of contemporary philosophical and popular thought, he considers the afterlife of Menandrian comedy in general and of Epitrepontes in particular, both in antiquity and in modern times, but also in the long period in between, when Menander was the great dramatist whose plays were thought to have been irrevocably lost.
Author : Menander (of Athens.)
Publisher : Aris & Phillips Classical Text
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 31,28 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Drama
ISBN : 0856688339
Though in antiquity the social comedies of Menander ranked second in popularity only to Homer, his plays were for centuries thought to be irretrievably lost. It was only in the 20th century that large sections of his work began to emerge, The Arbitration's major portion published in 1907, The Shield in 1969. With these and other finds we can now gauge in full the skill that Menander brought to his works. In preparing this edition the author has aimed to make accessible to readers some of the consummate sophistication in dramatic technique and use of language that once produced the question, `Menander and Life, which of you imitated the other?'
Author : Menander (of Athens.)
Publisher : University of London Press
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 50,20 MB
Release : 2009
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN :
Epitrrepontes, or 'The Arbitration', which Menander produced around 300 BC, tackles the modern-sounding subject of a broken marriage. Charisios has left his young wife Pamphile over a suspected infidelity and moved in with his neighbour to drown his sorrows in wine and women, specifically, a spirited harp-girl called Habrotonon. The irate father-in-law will not tolerate this waste of a good dowry and demands of his daughter that she divorce. Bravely she holds out against her father's tirades and remains loyal to her husband. A complex and masterly dramatic sequence ensures that by the end 'all's well that ends well' - and Menander has struck a blow for equality of the sexes, for understanding over arrogance and pride. A large portion of the Epitrepontes was recovered from oblivion in 1905. Since then new papyrus finds have continued to fill the gaps. This edition makes available to the reader all known papyri of the play, including the most recent. The commentary aims to explain the printed text, to place Menander's language in the context of Athenian dramatic art and rhetoric, and to appreciate his subtle insights into the psychology of his characters, from the huffy father-in-law Smikrines to the 'little people' of the comedy, the slaves, each with their private agenda.
Author : Thomas Bertram Lonsdale Webster
Publisher : Manchester University Press
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 38,18 MB
Release :
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ISBN :
Author : Thomas Bertram Lonsdale Webster
Publisher : Manchester University Press
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 43,34 MB
Release : 1974
Category : Greek drama
ISBN : 9780719005909
Author : Alan H. Sommerstein
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 42,40 MB
Release : 2013-12-04
Category : Drama
ISBN : 1135014655
The comedies of the Athenian dramatist Menander (c. 342-291 BC) and his contemporaries were the ultimate source of a Western tradition of light drama that has continued to the present day. Yet for over a millennium, Menander’s own plays were thought to have been completely lost. Thanks to a long and continuing series of papyrus discoveries, Menander has now been able to take his place among the major surviving ancient Greek dramatists alongside Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. In this book, sixteen contributors examine and explore the Menander we know today in light of the various literary, intellectual, and social contexts in which his plays can be viewed. Topics covered include: the society, culture, and politics of his generation; the intellectual currents of the period; the literary precursors who inspired Menander (or whom he expected his audiences to recall); and responses to Menander, from his own time to ours. As the first wide-ranging collective study of Menander in English, this book is essential reading for those interested in ancient comedy the world over.
Author : Sander M. Goldberg
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 23,92 MB
Release : 2014-01-13
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 1472507827
The discovery on papyrus of plays by Menander, the greatest writer of Greek New Comedy, at last makes possible an evaluation on his own terms of an ancient author who, through the adaptations of Plautus and Terence, profoundly influenced the course of western drama. The present study establishes a critical perspective for understanding the kind of comedy Menander wrote, his roots, the theatrical effects he sought, and the extent of his achievement. Chapters on the major plays analyse their techniques of construction and characterisation, suggesting both the strengths and the limitations of Menander's comic tradition. This study is based on the Oxford Greek text but cites all ancient authors in translation to open the discussion to a wider audience. An introductory chapter places the tradition of New Comedy in the history of drama, and modern parallels are drawn wherever helpful. It will therefore be of value to students of drama as well as to classicists.
Author : John Hazel
Publisher : Psychology Press
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 34,65 MB
Release : 2001
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780415224109
Cross-referencing, glossary, chronology, list of the emperors, select bibliographies.
Author : Ariana Traill
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 45,55 MB
Release : 2008-05-22
Category : History
ISBN : 1139472623
Taking a fresh look at mistaken identity in the work of an author who helped to introduce the device to comedy, in this book Professor Traill shows how the outrageous mistakes many male characters in Menander make about women are grounded in their own emotional needs. The core of the argument derives from analysis of speeches by or about women, with particular attention to the language used to articulate problems of knowledge and perception, responsibility and judgement. Not only does Menander freely borrow language, situations, and themes from tragedy, but he also engages with some of tragedy's epistemological questions, particularly the question of how people interpret what they see and hear. Menander was instrumental in turning the tragic theme of human ignorance into a comic device and inventing a plot type with enormous impact on the western tradition. This book provides original insights into his achievements within their historical and intellectual context.