Theater of the People

Spectators and Society in Ancient Athens

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Theatre, History & Criticism, History, Ancient History, Greece
Cover of the book Theater of the People by David Kawalko Roselli, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Kawalko Roselli ISBN: 9780292744776
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: June 1, 2011
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: David Kawalko Roselli
ISBN: 9780292744776
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: June 1, 2011
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English

Greek drama has been subject to ongoing textual and historical interpretation, but surprisingly little scholarship has examined the people who composed the theater audiences in Athens. Typically, scholars have presupposed an audience of Athenian male citizens viewing dramas created exclusively for themselves—a model that reduces theater to little more than a medium for propaganda. Women's theater attendance remains controversial, and little attention has been paid to the social class and ethnicity of the spectators. Whose theater was it?

Producing the first book-length work on the subject, David Kawalko Roselli draws on archaeological and epigraphic evidence, economic and social history, performance studies, and ancient stories about the theater to offer a wide-ranging study that addresses the contested authority of audiences and their historical constitution. Space, money, the rise of the theater industry, and broader social forces emerge as key factors in this analysis. In repopulating audiences with foreigners, slaves, women, and the poor, this book challenges the basis of orthodox interpretations of Greek drama and places the politically and socially marginal at the heart of the theater. Featuring an analysis of the audiences of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander, Theater of the People brings to life perhaps the most powerful influence on the most prominent dramatic poets of their day.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Greek drama has been subject to ongoing textual and historical interpretation, but surprisingly little scholarship has examined the people who composed the theater audiences in Athens. Typically, scholars have presupposed an audience of Athenian male citizens viewing dramas created exclusively for themselves—a model that reduces theater to little more than a medium for propaganda. Women's theater attendance remains controversial, and little attention has been paid to the social class and ethnicity of the spectators. Whose theater was it?

Producing the first book-length work on the subject, David Kawalko Roselli draws on archaeological and epigraphic evidence, economic and social history, performance studies, and ancient stories about the theater to offer a wide-ranging study that addresses the contested authority of audiences and their historical constitution. Space, money, the rise of the theater industry, and broader social forces emerge as key factors in this analysis. In repopulating audiences with foreigners, slaves, women, and the poor, this book challenges the basis of orthodox interpretations of Greek drama and places the politically and socially marginal at the heart of the theater. Featuring an analysis of the audiences of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander, Theater of the People brings to life perhaps the most powerful influence on the most prominent dramatic poets of their day.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Cinema Houston by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Growing Up Suburban by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book How to Suppress Women's Writing by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Beyond Machismo by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Corruption in Cuba by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Haunted Greece and Rome by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Roger Tory Peterson by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Forgiveness by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Foxboy by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Indian Tales of North America by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book The Great Texas Wind Rush by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Donut Dolly: An American Red Cross Girl's War in Vietnam by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book A Spy in the House of Loud by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Archaism, Modernism, and the Art of Paul Manship by David Kawalko Roselli
Cover of the book Recovering History, Constructing Race by David Kawalko Roselli
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy