Broken Laughter
Select Fragments of Greek Comedy
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:17th May '07
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
A collection of over 200 of the most interesting and important fragments of Greek comedy, accompanied by a commentary; an extensive introduction discussing the history of comic genre; a series of appendixes on the individual poets, the inscriptional evidence, and the like; and a complete translation of the fragments. Individual sections illustrate the earliest Greek comedy from Syracuse; the characteristic features of Athenian `Old', `Middle', and `New Comedy'; the comic presentation of politicians, philosophers, and women; the comic reception of other poetry; and many aspects of daily life, including dining and symposia.
[Olson] is making the ostensibly less attractive parts of classical dramatic literature better known: the fragments. He manages to make them fascinating - the publication is so well designed that the reader lacks none of the tools or information he needs to make sense of often tiny fragments * Listy Filologicke *
Broken Laughter is an admirable propaideutic for the study of comic fragments by an ideally equipped scholar. It fills a gap in the bibliography and will be warmly welcomed by scholars and students interested in this important material. * Zachary Biles, Journal of Hellenic Studies *
Olson's work is a welcome and valuable arrival. * Andrew Hartwig Scholia *
There is a great deal of learning on display in Broken Laughter and much information communicated with great economy. * Matthew Leigh, Times Literary Supplement *
Broken Laughter will help break new ground in rendering more accessible the world of Greek comedy beyond Aristophanes and Menander. * Tom Hawkins, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
...There is a great deal of learning on display in Broken Laughter and much information communicated with great economy. The chosen fragments typically raise a key issue and the commentary then reaches outwards to the mass of further references to the theme in other fragments as well as complete plays...there is much to admire... * Mtthew Leigh, Times Literary Supplement *
This beautifully produced book is a unique and indispensible resource for all students of classical Greek literature...Essential. * Choice *
this book would be well-placed in the library of anyone who is interested in Greek comedy * Andrew Hartwig, Scholia Reviews *
ISBN: 9780199287857
Dimensions: 240mm x 161mm x 31mm
Weight: 875g
496 pages