Book description
Menander (c. 341-291 BC) was the foremost innovator of Greek New
Comedy, a dramatic style that moved away from the fantastical to focus
upon the problems of ordinary Athenians. This collection contains the
full text of 'Old Cantankerous' (Dyskolos), the only surviving complete
example of New Comedy, as well as fragments from works including 'The
Girl from Samos' and 'The Rape of the Locks', all of which are concerned
with domestic catastrophes, the hazards of love and the trials of family
life. Written in a poetic style regarded by the ancients as second only
to Homer, these polished works - profoundly influential upon both Roman
playwrights such as Plautus and Terence, and the wider Western tradition
- may be regarded as the first true comedies of manners.
Menander (341-290bc) was teh most distinguished author of Greek New
Comedy. An Athenian of good family, he wrote over a hundred plays
although only one survives intact today.
Norma Miller was educated at the universities of Glasgow and
Cambridge and spent her life as a teacher of Greek and Latin languages
and literature at the Royal Holloway College. SHe is now Reader
Emeritus of the University of London.
