List of extant ancient Greek and Roman plays explained
While most ancient Greek and Roman plays have been lost to history, a significant number still survive. These include the comedies of Aristophanes and Menander, the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the Roman adaptations of Plautus, Terence and Seneca.
In total, there are eighty-three mostly extant plays, forty-six from ancient Greece and thirty-seven from ancient Rome. Furthermore, there are six lost plays with extensive surviving fragments, as well as twelve mimes. They range from the 472 BC tragedy The Persians, written by the Greek playwright Aeschylus, to Querolus, an anonymous Roman comedy from late antiquity.
Greek
Comedies
Ancient Greek comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old, Middle and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives through the eleven extant plays of Aristophanes and New Comedy through two mostly extant works of Menander. While Old Comedy parodied contemporary Athenian politics, leaders, and institutions, New Comedy features average citizens and parodies the cultural practices of the time. Middle Comedy is largely lost, preserved only in short fragments.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Aristophanes
Extensive fragments exist for another five plays: Aspis, Epitrepontes, Misoumenos, Perikeiromene and Sikyonioi.
Tragedies
Ancient Greek tragedies were most often based upon myths from the oral traditions, exploring human nature, fate, and the intervention of the gods. They evoke catharsis in the audience, a process through which the audience experiences pity and fear, and through that emotional engagement, purges these emotions. Greek tragedy survives through the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Other
- Prometheus Bound (479–424 BC) (attributed to Aeschylus, true author unknown)
- Rhesus (450–440 BC) (attributed to Euripides, true author unknown)
Satyr plays
Satyr plays feature mythological-heroic stories in a style of language similar to that of the tragedies, while sharing with comedy plots, titles, themes, characters, and happy endings. They feature a chorus of satyrs, with costumes that focus on the phallus, and use wordplay and sexual innuendos that do not occur in tragedy. The vast majority of satyr plays have been entirely lost: only one, by Euripides, survives complete.[10] [11] [12]
Sophocles
No satyr play by Sophocles survives complete. Extensive fragments exist for one: Ichneutae.
Euripides
Mimes
Mimes were a popular, informal type of entertainment in which a small group of actors portrayed a short situation from everyday life in the lower levels of society, in a humorous or farcical manner. It concentrated on depiction of character and physical humor instead of plot, and use of sexual innuendos and obscene jokes were frequent. There are eight surviving mimes attributed to Herodas, and three of Theocritus' idylls have been described as "urban mimes".[13] [14] [15] [16]
- The Go-Between (3rd century BC)
- The Whoremonger (3rd century BC)
- The Schoolmaster (3rd century BC)
- The Woman Sacrificing to Asclepius (3rd century BC)
- The Jealous Woman (3rd century BC)
- The Gossiping Friends (3rd century BC)
- The Cobbler (3rd century BC)
- The Dream (3rd century BC)
Other
- Charition (2nd century, based on Iphigenia in Tauris by Euripides, author unknown)
Roman
Comedies
The ancient Roman comedies that have survived can be categorized as fabula palliata (comedies based on Greek subjects). Roman comic dramatists made several structural changes, such as the removal of the previously prominent role of the chorus as a means of separating the action into distinct episodes and the addition of musical accompaniment to the plays' dialogue. Action usually took place in the streets, and plot complications were often a result of eavesdropping by a minor character. It survives through the works of Plautus and Terence.[17] [18] [19] [20]
Plautus
Terence
Other
- Querolus (4th–5th century, author unknown)
Tragedies
Most surviving ancient Roman tragedies can be categorized as fabula crepidata (tragedy based on Greek subjects). Senecan tragedy specifically features a declamatory style, and most of his plays use exaggerations in order to make his points more persuasive. They explored the psychology of the mind through monologues, focusing on one's inner thoughts, the central causes of their emotional conflicts, dramatizing emotion in a way that became central to Roman tragedy. Besides Seneca's works, a single example of fabula praetexta (tragedy based on Roman subjects) survives.[21] [22] [23] [24]
Other
- Hercules Oetaeus (65–100) (attributed to Seneca, true author unknown)
- Octavia (65–100) (attributed to Seneca, true author unknown)
See also
Notes and References
- Mastromarco, Giuseppe (1994) Introduzione a Aristofane (Sesta edizione: Roma-Bari 2004).
- H Nettleship, ed, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (London 1894) p. 152-3
- Aristophanes: Frogs and Other Plays: A new verse translation, with introduction and notes (Oxford World's Classics) 1st Edition by Aristophanes (Author), Stephen Halliwell (Editor)
- The Plays and Fragments (Oxford World's Classics) 1st Edition by Menander (Author), Maurice Balme (Translator), Peter Brown (Introduction)
- Frendo, Mario (February 2019). "Ancient Greek Tragedy as Performance: the Literature–Performance Problematic". New Theatre Quarterly. 35 (1): 19–32. doi:10.1017/S0266464X18000581. ISSN 0266-464X. S2CID 191998802.
- Aristotle Poetics 1449b 24-28 .
- The Complete Aeschylus: Volume I: The Oresteia (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) 1st Edition by Aeschylus (Author), Peter Burian (Editor), Alan Shapiro (Editor)
- The Complete Sophocles: Volume I: The Theban Plays (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) 1st Edition by Peter Burian (Editor), Alan Shapiro (Editor)
- The Complete Euripides: Volume I: Trojan Women and Other Plays (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) Critical ed. Edition by Peter Burian (Editor), Alan Shapiro (Editor)
- Griffith, Mark. Greek Satyr Play; Five Studies. California. pp. 14–16.
- Shaw (C. A.) "Satyric Play. The Evolution of Greek Comedy and Satyr Drama." The Classical Review, 65 (2014): 358–360. (Print). . DOI: 10.1017/S0009840X15001250.
- The Ichneutae of Sophocles, With Notes and a Translation Into English, Preceded by Introductory Chapters Dealing With the Play, With Satyric Drama, and With Various Cognate Matters by Sophocles (Author), Richard Johnson Walker (Author)
- Rusten; Cunningham, eds. 2014, p. 183.
- Book: The Greek Bucolic Poets . William Heinemann . 1919 . Edmonds . J. M. . 3rd . 24–39.
- Idylls (Oxford World's Classics) 1st Edition by Theocritus (Author), Anthony Verity (Author), Richard Hunter (Introduction)
- Theophrastus: Characters. Herodas: Mimes. Sophron and Other Mime Fragments. (Loeb Classical Library No. 225) by Theophrastus (Author), Herodas (Author), Sophron (Author), Jeffrey Rusten (Translator), I. C. Cunningham (Translator)
- Brockett, Oscar; Hildy, Franklin J. (2003). History of the Theatre. Allyn and Bacon.
- Bieber, Margarete (1961). The History of Greek & Roman Theater. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 151–171.
- Plautus. Vol. I. Amphitryon, The Comedy of Asses. The Pot of Gold. The Two Bacchises. The Captives. With an English Translation by Paul Nixon
- The Comedies (Penguin Classics) by Terence (Author), Betty Radice (Translator)
- Book: Boyle, A. J.. Tragic Seneca : An Essay in the Theatrical Tradition. 1997. 15–32. 1-134-80231-5. 2020-02-20.
- Bernhard Zimmermann and Thomas Baier "Tragedy" in: Brill's New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider.
- Tragedies, Volume I: Hercules. Trojan Women. Phoenician Women. Medea. Phaedra (Loeb Classical Library) by Seneca (Author), John G. Fitch (Translator)
- Octavia: A Play attributed to Seneca, ed. Rolando Ferri (Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries No.41, Cambridge UP, 2003)
