Euripides: Cyclops: A Satyr Play(Companions to Greek and Roman Tragedy)

With its ribald chorus of ithyphallic, half-man / half-horse creatures, satyr drama was a peculiar part of the Athenian theatrical experience. Performed three times each year after a trilogy of tragedies, it was an integral part of the 5th- and 4th-century City Dionysia, a large festival in honour of the god Dionysus. Euripides: Cyclops is the first book-length study of this fascinating genre's only complete, extant play, a theatrical version of Odysseus' encounter with the monster Polyphemus. Shaw begins with a look at the history of the genre, following its development from early 6th-century religious processions up to the Hellenistic era. He then offers a comprehensive analysis of the Cyclops' plot and performance, using the text (alongside ancient literary fragments and visual evidence) to determine the original viewing experience: the stage, masks, costumes, actions and emotions. A detailed examination of the text reveals that Euripides associates and distinguishes his version of the story from previous iterations of the myth, especially book nine of Homer's Odyssey. Euripides handles many of the same themes as his predecessors, but he updates the Cyclops for the Athenian stage, adapting his work to reflect and comment upon contemporary religious, philosophical and literary-musical trends.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures Preface Notes for the Reader List of Abbreviations 1. The Cyclops and Satyr Drama 2. Viewing the Play: Plot and Performance 3. Themes, Issues, and Functions 4. Euripides' Cyclops in its Literary Context Endnotes References General Index

About the Author :
Carl A. Shaw is Associate Professor of Greek Language and Literature at New College of Florida, USA. He is the author of Satyric Play: The Evolution of Greek Comedy and Satyr Drama (2014) and various articles on Greek drama and culture.

Review :
An informative and commendable introduction to what for some may be an unfamiliar and peculiar form of drama … Shaw has done a first-rate job of making this unusual and unfamiliar drama accessible to students, instructors, actors and producers. He has managed to tease a great deal out of the language of the text and the possible impact of the staging, and he persuasively demonstrates how Euripides 'updates one of the most Homeric stories for the Athenian stage, rewriting an archaic myth to fit contemporary society' (118). There is much of interest and good sense in this useful book. Concise and thorough introduction to the genre, creative and well-aimed analysis of key aspects of the Cyclops and, for the first time, focus on the staging and the visual experience of this fascinating play: in all respects, a must-have companion to the only complete satyr drama. I had not fully appreciated how entertaining Euripides' Cyclops is until I read Carl Shaw's contribution to Bloomsbury's Companions to Greek and Roman Tragedy. By the end of the book, one can admire the abundance of evident as well as ambiguous themes that make Euripides' play a sourcebook of ironic jokes and subtle intertextual allusions. A monograph dedicated to Euripides' Cyclops was doubtless needed, and S.'s skill in offering a useful and in-depth study, comprehensible to a heterogenous audience, is much appreciated.