Theatre Props and Civic Identity in Athens, 458-405 BC

Rosie Wyles (University of Kent, UK)

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
21 April 2022

This book answers the question 'How did Athenian drama shape ideas about civic identity?' through the medium of three case studies focusing on props. Traditional responses to the question have overlooked the significance of props which were symbolically implicated in Athenian ideology, yet the key objects explored in this study (voting urns and pebbles, swords, and masks) each carried profound connections to Athenian civic identity while also playing important roles as props on the fifth-century stage. Playwrights exploited the powerful dynamic generated from the intersection between the ‘social lives’ (off-stage existence in society) and ‘stage lives’ (handling in theatre) of these objects to enhance the dramatic effect of their plays as well as the impact of these performances on society.

The exploration of the ‘stage lives’ of these objects across comedy, tragedy, and satyr drama reveals much about generic interdependence and distinction. Meanwhile the consideration of iconography representing the objects’ lives outside the theatre sheds light on drama’s powerful interplay with art. Essential reading for scholars and students of ancient Greek history, culture, and drama, the innovative approach and insightful analysis contained in this volume will also be of interest to researchers in the fields of Theatre Studies, Art History, and Cultural Studies.

By: Rosie Wyles (University of Kent UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781350186477
ISBN 10: 1350186473
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 21 April 2022
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Propping up Athens Chapter 1 Casting votes in Athens Chapter 2 Trialling Props on stage I The Oresteia’s appropriation of voting urns and pebbles II Dramatic retrials after 458 BC Chapter 3 A Weapon of Democracy Chapter 4 Swords drawn on the tragic stage I The Oresteia’s tyrant slayers II Ajax’s battlefield sphagia Chapter 5 Swords redrawn on stage I The comic re-drawing of swords II Swords redrawn again in Phoenician Women Chapter 6 The Mask in hand I Society II Theatre Conclusion Evaluating Objects Appendix Clytemnestra’s sword in the Oresteia Notes Bibliography Index

Rosie Wyles is Senior Lecturer in Classical History and Literature at the University of Kent, UK. Her research interests and publications focus on the performance of Greek drama and its reception, including her monograph Costume in Greek Tragedy (2011).

Reviews for Theatre Props and Civic Identity in Athens, 458-405 BC

Exemplary in making the case for the interest in ‘small things’: W. shows well how looking at apparently mundane objects leads to important questions, such as the democratic discourse or the question of drama’s engagement with social and cultural aspects of the contemporary civic life. * The Classical Review *