Greek Theater in Ancient Sicily

Kathryn G. Bosher, Edith Hall, Clemente Marconi

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781108493871
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108639620
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Studies of ancient theater have traditionally taken Athens as their creative center. In this book, however, the lens is widened to examine the origins and development of ancient drama, and particularly comedy, within a Sicilian and southern Italian context. Each chapter explores a different category of theatrical evidence, from the literary (fragments of Epicharmus and cult traditions) to the artistic (phylax vases) and the archaeological (theater buildings). Kathryn G. Bosher argues that, unlike in classical Athens, the golden days of theatrical production on Sicily coincided with the rule of tyrants, rather than with democratic interludes. Moreover, this was not accidental, but plays and the theater were an integral part of the tyrants' propaganda system. The volume will appeal widely to classicists and to theater historians.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• Foreword
• Note to the Reader
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Out of the Shadows: Epicharmus and Early Performance in Syracuse
• 3 Cult and Circumstance
• 4 Politics and Propaganda
• 5 Taking Theater Home: Images of Comedy and Tragedy on Vases
• 6 Drama in Public: Stone Theaters in the West
• 7 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index locorum
• General Index