Pelling, Christopher, ed. — Greek Tragedy and the Historian

Oxford, England, The Clarendon Press at Oxford University, 1997. First Edition. Hardcover. Size: 8vo 8" - 9" tall. Christopher Pelling has edited a fine survey of historiography of Greek drama and theater, tragedy and playwriting, wth contributions by P.E. Easterling, A. M. Bowie, Alan H. Sommerstein, Peter Wilson, Pierre Vidal Naquet, Stephen Halliwell, Robert Parker, Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, Robin Osborne and Christopher Pelling. Fine-looking, structurally sound hardcover, little discernible wear, bright interior, unmarked. Bright and shiny dust jacket, illustrated, little worn. From the publisher's blurb, "The tragic theme was no mere diversion for a fifth-century Athenian: it was a focal part of the experience of being a citizen. Tragedy explores fundamental issues of religion, of ethics, of civic ideology, and we should expect it to be a central source for the reconstruction and analysis of the Athenian thought-world. Yet is is also a peculiarly delicate source to use, and the combination of tragic with other material often poses particular problems to thehistorian. This collection of eleven papers investigates the methods and pitfalls of using tragedy to illuminate fifth-century thought, culture, and society. In the concluding essay Christopher Pellingsummarizes two important themes of the book: the problems of using tragedy as evidence; and the light tragedy can shed on civic ideology. Tragedy was central to the experience of being a Athenian citizen and should be the richest of all sources for illuminating fifth-century society and thought, yet it is particularly difficult for a historian to use. This collection of eleven essays investigates the methods and pitfalls of using tragedy to illuminate history." Volume contains scholarly apparatus in the form of, e.g., notes, index, and bibliography. xii [1], 2-268 pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. . . . As New/Fine,