Greek Tragedy and the Emotions (Routledge Revivals): An Introductory Study

According to Aristotle the main purpose of tragedy is the manipulation of emotions, and yet there are relatively few accessible studies of the precise dynamics of emotion in the Athenian theatre.

In Greek Tragedy and the Emotions, first published in 1993, W.B. Stanford reviews the evidence for ‘emotionalism’ – as the great Attic playwrights presented it, as the actors and choruses expressed it, and as their audiences reacted to it. Sociological aspects of the issue are considered, and the wh...