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2 - Poets and Plays: Performing Tragedies from Fourth-Century Athens to Republican Rome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2025

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Summary

This chapter identifies the tragedies that ancient actors kept performing in three areas: fourth-century Athens and Attica, fourth-century Sicily and South Italy, and Republican Rome. My discussion is organised by poet, starting with the canonical tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Although Aeschylus’ tragedies quickly lost appeal with theatrical audiences across Greece, at least a few of them survived in fourth-century Sicily and South Italy and were later adapted by Roman dramatists for Latin-speaking audiences. Sophocles’ tragedies fared generally better than Aeschylus’, but Euripides clearly had the largest impact on actors’ activities. Many of his tragedies can be consistently found in different venues. While the plays by the three canonical tragedians can be more easily traced in the theatre-related sources, the tragedies by other authors also survived in later theatres. Their plays as well were reproduced on the theatre-related pots from across fourth-century Sicily and South Italy and were later staged in Rome in their Latin adaptations.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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