A Companion to Greek Tragedy (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Companion to Greek Tragedy C.W. Marshall Justina Gregory, ed. A Companion to Greek Tragedy. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Maldon, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Pp. xviii + 552. $186.99. ISBN 978-1-4051-0770-9 (cloth). The thirty-one papers in this collection form the richest single-volume introduction to an aspect of the ancient world that I have read. The range of contributions is immense, and each paper could be used as a starting-point for further study of Athenian tragedy (each chapter possesses a bibliography of “further reading”). The book is divided into four parts—“Contexts,” “Elements,” “Approaches,” and “Reception”—and it is helpful to consider the papers within these groups. The wide-ranging nature of the volume—and the limitations of the academic review—means that only superficial comment is possible for most contributions. The first part, “Contexts,” consists of seven chapters. Three represent generalist summaries of the author’s previously published views. Scott Scullion (23–37) provides a well-argued account that is honest [End Page 253] about the marginality of the perspective expressed but rigorous in its clear articulation of key aspects of the origin of tragedy. Jocelyn Penny Small (103–118) offers a skeptical view on the relationship between vase illustrations and tragic performance, arguing against the views of Taplin and Green. While additional context from the so-called phlyax vases would, I think, offer helpful counter-evidence, this is a very useful summary. I remain unconvinced, however, by Neil Croally’s defense of tragedy’s didacticism (55–70): he shifts between two senses of “teaching” (as a function of the genre, and as a choice by the playwright), so that the point becomes trivial; everything teaches in this sense. Much stronger is William Allen (71–82) on the philosophical tradition, which (with Halliwell; see below) covers much of the same ground as Croally. Christopher Pelling’s discussion of the role of rhetoric (83–102) demonstrates how performance culture blurs tragedy into the lawcourts, and vice-versa. These two papers are both excellent summaries. Other papers are less compelling. Paula Debnar (3–22) opens the volume with a historical overview of fifth-century Athens, placing selected tragedies in this context, though general readers will be misled by several claims, including the certainty with which the opening paragraph affirms Euphorion’s production of Prometheus in (specifically) 431 (a play treated as Aeschylean at 105, 216, and 326, and inauthentic at 3, 199, and 254). Bernd Seidensticker (38–54) gives a general account of satyr drama, but the description of dithyramb, important for understanding tragic choruses, is minimal. The core of the second part, “Elements,” consists of four discussions on structural aspects of Greek tragedy. Deborah H. Roberts on beginnings and endings (136–148) discusses how the content of tragedy is bounded. For her, the play is the unit of interpretation, and one misses a sense of how the satyr play provides its own kind of ending to the dramatic experience. Michael R. Halleran’s paper on episodes (167–182) describes specific types of scenes and is attuned to the implications for performance. Peter Wilson’s solid, short, provocative discussion of music (183–193) rightly emphasizes the performative implications and the foreignness of Greek music. After carefully defining his vocabulary and terms, Luigi Battezzato (149–166) summarizes the function of lyric and challenges conventional (Aristotelian) views. All four papers are excellent, and together provide a kind of Bauformen der griechischen Tragödie “lite” that will be incredibly useful to English-speaking undergraduates. Less successful is Michael J. Anderson on myth (121–135), which is a bit flat since it does not engage with larger and often misunderstood issues of what myth is. The final paper in this section, John Davidson on performance (194–211), is in the awkward position of having to cover too much ground within a single chapter; as a result, the [End Page 254] discussion is compressed at key points, and alternative possibilities remain under-explored. While many of the papers more than touch on issues of performance, there is too much here to provide a consolidated view, and issues such as the theatre space itself are not...