Seneca's tragedy Agamemnon is a brilliantly rhetorical piece, written for the study rather than the stage. In this edition Professor Tarrant provides a much needed critical text. In his introduction he discusses the sources, dating, structure and mode of production of Agamemnon and Senecan drama in general, and includes a detailed survey of the manuscript tradition. His commentary is the fullest yet published on a Senecan play and attempts both to interpret the text and to define the originality of Senecan drama by placing it in its proper literary context; it contains material illustrating Seneca's relationship to earlier Greek and Roman drama, Augustan poetry (Ovid's in particular), and the rhetoric of declamation. This edition will be welcomed by classical scholars and students of Latin poetry, and may also prove valuable to those interested in Seneca's influence on later European drama.
