The Reception of Aeschylus’ Plays through Shifting Models and Frontiers: (7 Metaforms)

The Reception of Aeschylus' Plays through Shifting Models and Frontiers addresses the need for an integrated approach to the study and staging of Aeschylus’ plays. It offers an invigorating discussion about the transmission and reception of his plays and explores the interrelated tasks of editing, translating, adapting and remaking them for the page and the stage. The volume seeks to reshape current debates about the place of his tragedies in the curriculum and the repertory in a scholarly manner that is accessible and innovative. Each chapter makes a significant and original contribution to its selected topic, but the collective strength of the volume rests on its simultaneous appeal to readers in theatre studies, classical studies, performance studies, comparative studies, translation studies, adaptation studies, and, naturally, reception studies.

About the Author :
Stratos E. Constantinidis is the author of two monographs on critical theory and historiography. He edited numerous interdisciplinary books and journal volumes, and four special issues on Greek drama, cinema, and culture. He is also translator of three produced and published translations of Greek plays. He was director of the Comparative Drama Conference (2000-2004) and served as editor of Text and Presentation (McFarland, 2000-2008) and the Journal of Modern Greek Studies (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003-2006). Contributors to this volume are: Sarah Brown Ferrario, Alex Garvie, Vijaya Guttal, Johanna Hanink, Lorna Hardwick, Peter Meineck, Paul Monaghan, Helen Moritz, Dana Munteanu, Rush Rehm, Deborah Roberts, Anna Uhlig, Michael Walton, and Kevin Wetmore.

Review :
''This is the first study to address the reception of Aeschylus holistically, and although the plays of the Oresteia trilogy are understandably explored in most detail, it is good to see all the extant plays discussed as well as a number of fragments. (...) Overall, this is an exceptionally coherent and well-conceived collection, edited by an expert hand. The chapters speak both to the central concerns of the volume and to each other, with authors clearly engaged with and cross-referencing each other’s work. This book will be indispensable for anyone interested in the reception history of Aeschylus, and has much of value to say, more generally, about the politics of translation and adaptation in the remaking of Greek tragedy.'' Isabel Torrance, The Classical Review 68.1.