This very great play was first produced in 415 B.c. and must have been a favourite from the beginning, for it was chosen, with eight others from the same author, to be broadcast as one of the world's masterpieces. In spite of such a good start, however, it has been largely misunderstood in modern times, and the interpretation I am about to give must, unfortunately, be regarded as something new. Yet, of course, if it is the correct explanation, it is not new at all but exactly as old as the play itself. The author was Euripides—the youngest of the three great tragedians who were producing plays at the same time in one town—not as big as Newcastle-under-Lyme. Think of it—three Shakespeares at once. The construction of the play is brilliant, and that means, among other things, that it will contain its own explanation; we shall look for it and probably find it in the prologue. The scene displayed on the stage is one of desolation—much like a bombed site on the morning after a heavy raid. In the background we see smoking ruins and some rather poor tents or sheds evidently knocked up on the spur of the moment to accommodate a few desolate and homeless survivors.