Menander: Samia by Matthew Wright

Menander: Samia by Matthew Wright

Matthew Wright brings Menander’s Samia to life by explaining how it achieves its comic effects and how it fits within the broader context of fourth-century Greek drama and society. He offers a scene-by-scene reading of the play, combining close attention to detail with broader consideration of major themes, in an approach designed to bring out the humour and nuance of each individual moment on stage, while also illuminating Menander’s comic art.

The play dramatizes a tangled story of mistakes, mishaps and misapprehensions leading up to the marriage of Moschion and Plangon. For most of the action the characters are at odds with one another owing to accidental delusions or deliberate deceptions, and it seems as if the marriage will be cancelled or indefinitely postponed; but ultimately everyone’s problems are solved and the play ends happily. Samia is one of the best-preserved examples of fourth-century Greek comedy: celebrated within antiquity but subsequently lost for many years, it miraculously came back to light, in almost complete form, as a result of Egyptian papyrus finds during the 20th century.

Wsucceeds marvellously in showing that Samia is fun to read and stage, and that Menander is not flat, dull, lame or predictable ... W.’s interpretation of Samia is up to date in its scholarship, sensitive to the key issues involved in interpreting Menander’s plays, entertaining to read and accessible to a broad public. I recommend W.’s Samia to all students and scholars who are interested in classical studies, ancient drama and cultural studies in general. * The Classical Review *

Matthew Wright is Professor of Greek at the University of Exeter, UK. He has published widely on Greek tragedy and comedy, including The Lost Plays of Greek Tragedy (Volumes 1 and 2) (Bloomsbury Academic, 2016 and 2018) and The Comedian as Critic (Bloomsbury, 2012).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781350124769
ISBN 10	1350124761
Title	Menander: Samia
Author	Matthew Wright
Series	Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2020-11-12
Number of pages	176
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.