Eupolis, Poet of Old Comedy
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:18th Dec '03
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Eupolis (fl. 429-411 BC) was one of the best-attested and most important of Aristophanes' rivals. No complete work by this lost master has survived, but of his fourteen plays we have 500 fragments. These include 120 lines of his best-known comedy, Demoi (The Demes), which were discovered and published in 1911. Even in fragmentary form, Eupolis' plays shed interesting light on the whole range of issues - political, poetic, and dramatic - that make Aristophanes so perennially fascinating. There has, however, been no substantial survey in English until now. As well as providing a new translation of all the remaining fragments and a separate essay on each lost play, Ian C. Storey discusses Eupolis' career, redates the plays, examines how Eupolis was known in the ancient world, explores his relationship with Aristophanes (as both rival and collaborator), and delineates the distinct nature of the comedy that this prizewinning poet created.
I would confidently hazard that this is going to be one of the most influential recent books on Old Comedy, and that it will have a profound effect on the study of Aristophanes and the genre over the next 25 years. What is more, the book is extremely accessible and well-crafted, and it can be thoroughly enjoyed and fully utilised even by those without an addiction to Attic Old Comedy fragments. * The Journal of Classics Teaching *
Storey charitably makes his book accessible to all by giving the fragments in translation near the start, and translating all Greek and Latin quotations in the text ... Storey has done a very good job with the scanty remains of Eupolis, who is now visible in a much clearer light than before. The work will stand for a long time. * Angus Bowie, Times Literary Supplement *
A monograph that presents a detailed and wide-ranging look at all aspects of the poet's oeuvre ... I welcome his book unreservedly ... Storey has produced a major book which needs to be in every University collection. * Keith Sidwell, Classics Ireland *
Ian Storey's meticulous study of the surviving fragments of Eupolis is essential reading for every scholar and student of Greek drama...[and] is an essential edition for every university and college library. * Mary C. English, Classical World *
ISBN: 9780199259922
Dimensions: 240mm x 160mm x 27mm
Weight: 920g
456 pages