A Companion to Tragedy is an essential resourcefor anyone interested in exploring the role oftragedy in Western history and culture. TheCompanion is based on the premise that thegenre of tragedy is inseparable from history,insofar as it was born in the Greek city-state,and its life has been intertwined with the fateof dynasties,revolutions,and crises of socialchange. At the same time,this historicalapproach is complemented by consideration ofphilosophical and religious readings of tragedy.

A Companion to Tragedy is an essential resource for anyone interested in exploring the role of tragedy in Western history and culture.

Broad in its scope and ambition.

Features essays by renowned scholars from multiple disciplines,including classics,English,drama,anthropology and philosophy.

Considers interpretations of tragedy through religion,philosophy and history.

Tells the story of the historical development of tragedy from classical Greece to modernity.Pays particular attention to a fresh assessment of Ancient Greek tragedy.

Demonstrates how the practice of reading tragedy has changed radically in the past two decades.

Notes on Contributors

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Rebecca Bushnell (University of Pennsylvania)

Tragic Thought

Part One: Tragedy and the Gods

1.Tragedy and Ritual: Christiane Sorvinou-Inwood (author)

2.Tragedy and Dionysus: Richard Seaford (University of Exeter)

Part Two: Tragedy,Philosophy,and Psychoanalysis

3.Aristotle's Poetics: A Defense of Tragic Fiction: Kathy Eden (Columbia University)

4.The Greatness and Limits of Hegel's Theory of Tragedy: Mark W.Roche (University of Notre Dame)

5.Nietzsche and Tragedy: James Porter (University of Michigan)

6.Tragedy and Psychoanalysis: Freud and Lacan: Julia Reinhard Lupton (University of California,Irvine)

Part Three: Tragedy and History

7.Tragedy and City: Deborah Boedeker (Brown University)and Kurt Raaflaub (Brown University)

8.Tragedy and Materialist Thought: Hugh Grady (Arcadia University)

9.Tragedy and Feminism: Victoria Wohl (Ohio State University)

Tragedy in History

Part Four: Tragedy in Antiquity

10.Tragedy and Myth: Alan Sommerstein (University of Nottingham)

11.Tragedy and Epic: Ruth Scodel (University of Michigan)

12.Tragedy in Performance: Michael Halleran (University of Washington)

13.The Tragic Choral Group: Dramatic Role and Social Functions: Claude Calame (Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)translated by Dan Edelstein

14.Women in Greek Tragedy: Sheila Murnahagn (University of Pennsylvania)

15.Aristophanes,Old Comedy and Greek Tragedy: Ralph Rosen (University of Pennsylvania)

16.Roman Tragedy: Alessandro Schiesaro (King's College,University of London)

Part Five: Renaissance and Baroque Tragedy

17.The Fall of Princes: The Classical and Medieval Roots of English Renaissance Tragedy: Rebecca Bushnell (University of Pennsylvania)

18.Something is Rotten: English Renaissance Tragedies of State: Matthew H.Wikander (University of Toledo)

19.English Revenge Tragedy: Michael Neill (University of Auckland)

20.Spanish Golden Age Tragedy: Cervantes to Calderon: Margaret R.Greer (Duke University)

Part Six: Neoclassical and Romantic Tragedy

21.Neoclassical Dramatic Theory in Seventeenth-Century France: Richard E.Goodkin (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

22.French Neoclassical Tragedy: Corneille/Racine: Mitchell Greenberg (Cornell University)

23.Romantic Tragic Drama and its Eighteenth-Century Precursors: Remaking British Tragedy: Jeffrey N.Cox (University of Colorado at Boulder)

24.German Classical Tragedy: Lessing,Goethe,Schiller,Kleist,and Büchner: Simon Richter (University of Pennsylvania)

25.French Romantic Tragedy: Barbara T.Cooper (University of New Hampshire)

Part Seven: Tragedy and Modernity

26.Modern Theater and the Tragic in Europe: Gail Finney (Univeristy of California,Davis)

27.Tragedy in the Modern American Theatre: Brenda Murphy (University of Connecticut)

28.Using Tragedy against its Makers: Some African and Caribbean Instances: Timothy J.Reiss (New York University)

Index