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Western drama, having all but disappeared during the Dark Ages, reemerged spontaneously in the liturgy and life of the medieval church. Vernacular miracle plays of England's Middle Ages were performed by lay people — many by trade guilds — unschooled in church Latin, but familiar with the biblical events upon which the dramas were based. Morality plays provided moral instruction, their principal characters vivid personifications of virtue and vice. The most durable of...
| Автор | Anonymous |
These two powerful classics of ancient drama are excellent examples of the author's gift for adapting traditional material for decidedly nontraditional effect. Through them Euripides critically examines social and moral aspects of contemporary life and even specific political events. He endows his figures with shrewdly observed individual character, implicitly deflating the emblematic simplicity of traditional narratives and making him seem the most modern of the great Greek dramatists.The...
| Автор | Euripides |
Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. He would be awarded this honor three more times in his life, and once more posthumously. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. In 408 b.c.e., Euripides left worn-torn Athens for Macedonia, upon the invitation of King Archelaus, and there he spent his last years as a confidant of the...
| Автор | Euripides |
One of the most famous poets from classical antiquity, Sophocles was one of three important ancient Greek tragedians, the others being Aeschylus and Euripides. Writing during the 5th century BC, Sophocles created some one hundred and twenty three plays during his lifetime, of which only seven have survived in their entirety. In this edition are included the three so-called Theban plays, as translated by Francis Storr, which are widely considered his most important works. These works include...
| Автор | Sophocles |
Perhaps the most philosophical of the three Theban plays, «Oedipus at Colonus» continues the story begun in «Oedipus the King.» Oedipus is a blind beggar, tainted by his past, and nearing the end of his life. He travels with his daughter, Antigone, until they reach the holy ground of the Furies, which coincides with the prophecy of his place of death. There he is sought after by the warring kings of Athens and Thebes, for his final resting place will grant victory and peace to the country in...
| Автор | Sophocles |
This comprehensive compilation of Aristophanes' texts, «The Complete Plays of Aristophanes» contains eleven unique stories all penned by the famously witty Greek playwright. His works are also important because they are some of the last remaining forms of Old Comedy in existence. The plays are filled with all kinds of satire, ranging from politics and sex to the humorous portrayals of popular Greek figures. «The Clouds» depicts the philosopher Socrates as a sneaky old man with a penchant...
| Автор | Aristophanes |
"The Sonnets and Narrative Poems" collects together all the non-dramatic poetry of William Shakespeare. While Shakespeare is known best for his plays he also wrote numerous love sonnets and a handful of narrative poems which are excellent literary works in their own right. The narrative poems include two erotically themed works, «Venus and Adonis» and «The Rape of Lucrece» as well as the romantic narratives of «A Lover's Complaint» and «The Phoenix and the Turtle». Shakespeare also...
| Автор | Уильям Шекспир |
The ancient Roman writer Plautus is one of the most important playwrights in Western Civilization. «The Pot of Gold and Other Plays» captures his genius with a collection of famous plays performed in the Roman theatre. Plautus adapted most of his plays from earlier Greek stories, making him essential in helping preserve the history and integrity of Greek theatre. What makes Plautus extraordinary, though, is that he kept the essence of the Greek shows while evolving the wordplay and language to...
| Автор | Plautus |
Euripides, along was Sophocles and Aeschylus, is responsible for the rise of Greek tragedy. It was in the 5th Century BC, during the height of Greece's cultural bloom, that Euripides lived and worked. Of his roughly ninety-two plays, only seventeen tragedies survive. Both ridiculed and lauded during his life, Euripides now stands as an innovator of the Greek drama. Here, in «Iphigenia Among the Taurians» is an escape play with a familiar cast of characters. Iphigenia, Orestes, and Pylades...
| Автор | Euripides |
Though little is known for certain of his early life, Euripides was probably born around 460 b.c.e. to the farmer Mnesarchus and his wife Clito, and his studious nature quickly led him to a literary life in Athens. Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. He would be awarded this honor three more times in his life, and once more posthumously. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and...
| Автор | Euripides |
Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) is revered as one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, and produced the largest body of extant work by any ancient playwright. He is considered to be the most modern of the three, and he laid the foundation for Western theatre. His work sticks out from that of his contemporaries because of his colloquial vocabulary, meter and syntax, distinct from the grandiose language of his predecessors. This edition contains six of...
| Автор | Euripides |
Though little is known for certain of his early life, Euripides was probably born around 460 b.c.e. to the farmer Mnesarchus and his wife Clito, and his studious nature quickly led him to a literary life in Athens. He turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first of five victories in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. Together with Aeschylus and...
| Автор | Euripides |
Euripides, along was Sophocles and Aeschylus, is responsible for the great rise of Greek tragedy. It was in the 5th Century BC, during the height of Greece's cultural bloom, that Euripides lived and worked. Of his roughly ninety-two plays, only seventeen tragedies survive. Both ridiculed and lauded during his life, Euripides now stands as an innovator of the Greek drama. Here, in «Heracles and Other Plays», we witness Euripides at the heights of his dramatic power. «Heracles» dramatizes the...
| Автор | Euripides |
Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. He would be awarded this honor three more times in his life, and once more posthumously. His works are characterized by their moral ambiguity, plots of intrigue, and often a separate character (usually a deity) who introduces the play with an explanatory prologue. «Hecuba» was written around 424 b.c.e., and is considered to be one of Euripides'...
| Автор | Euripides |
Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) is revered as one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, and produced the largest body of extant work by any ancient playwright. He is considered to be the most modern of the three, and his works laid the foundation for Western theatre. Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. He would be awarded this honor three...
| Автор | Euripides |
"Othello" is one of Shakespeare's finest dramas and one of the greatest tragedies ever written. It is the story of its title character, Othello, a Moor general who draws the ire of Iago, his ensign, when he passes him over for a promotion. Othello also makes an enemy of Roderigo, a wealthy gentleman, when he marries his love interest, Desdemona. Iago conspires against Othello by making him believe that his wife has been unfaithful. This deception results in tragedy for all of those...
| Автор | Уильям Шекспир |
Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) is revered as one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, and produced the largest body of extant work by any ancient playwright. He is considered to be the most modern of the three, and his works laid the foundation for Western theatre. «Ion» interprets the legend of the orphan Ion, who was conceived from the rape of Creusa by the god Apollo. Creusa is determined to keep the rape secret, and leaves the baby for dead. The...
| Автор | Euripides |
This comprehensive anthology provides every single one of Shakespeare's tragedy plays, from the earliest «Titus Andronicus» to «Coriolanus.» Follow one of the greatest love stories ever told in perhaps his most widely known play, «Romeo and Juliet.» In this classic tale, the two young lovers are members of feuding families, but they believe that their love transcends their families' hate. In «Othello,» a Moorish general in the Venetian army is destroyed because of the jealousy and envy...
| Автор | Уильям Шекспир |
The third play of Shakespeare's 'First Tetralogy,' this «Part III» is widely regarded as the best of the three works on Henry VI. The Bard's skill in producing scenes of moving drama is readily apparent, for Queen Margaret journeys to France in search of military aid after King Henry brokers a deal with his enemy Richard, Duke of York, for physical protection. Many bloody and heart-rending battles take place in this play as the War of the Roses reaches its climax, with Henry...
| Автор | Уильям Шекспир |
Though little is known for certain of his early life, Euripides was probably born around 460 b.c.e. to the farmer Mnesarchus and his wife Clito, and his studious nature quickly led him to a literary life in Athens. Eighteen of Euripides' ninety-two works remain today, making his the largest extant collection of work by an ancient playwright. His work sticks out from that of his contemporaries because of his colloquial vocabulary, meter and syntax, distinct from the grandiose language of his...
| Автор | Euripides |
Though little is known for certain of his early life, Euripides was probably born around 460 b.c.e. to the farmer Mnesarchus and his wife Clito, and his studious nature quickly led him to a literary life in Athens. His work sticks out from that of his contemporaries for his attention to the political and social problems around him, although he never held public office. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. «The Suppliants» is one...
| Автор | Euripides |
Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) is revered as one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, and produced the largest body of extant work by any ancient playwright. He is considered to be the most modern of the three, and he laid the foundation for Western theatre. His works are characterized by their moral ambiguity, plots of intrigue, and a separate character (usually a deity) who introduces the play with an explanatory prologue. «The Cyclops» dramatizes...
| Автор | Euripides |
One of only seven surviving plays written by the great Greek tragedian Sophocles, «Philoctetes» follows the life of a unique and important man through his trials and triumphs. The only man willing to light the funeral pyre of Hercules, Philoctetes is awarded his bow in repayment. Later, as he leaves to fight in the Trojan War, Philoctetes is bitten on the foot by a snake and left behind on the desert island of Lemnos by Odysseus. When the gods reveal the Greeks' need of Philoctetes and his...
| Автор | Sophocles |
"The Sonnets" of William Shakespeare are a collection of 154 loosely connected 14 line poems. Considered by many to be among some of the greatest love poetry ever written much debate surrounds the context of the poetry. It has been suggested that the work may be semi-autobiographical but no real evidence firmly supports this notion. Regardless of their context, «The Sonnets» can be appreciated individually or as a whole as examples of William Shakespeare's true literary genius.
| Автор | Уильям Шекспир |