The Origins of Theater in Ancient Greece and Beyond

Eric Csapo is Professor of Classics at the University of Sydney. He is an expert on the history of the ancient theatre and coauthor of The Context of Ancient Drama. His most recent book is Theories of Mythology. Margaret C. Miller is Arthur and Renee George Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Sydney. She specializes in Greek iconography and cultural history. Her book, Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC: A Study in Cultural Receptivity, won the Prix Ghirshman of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 2001.

'Jane Harrison and the Cambridge Ritualists, early in the twentieth century, fixed firmly in our minds the view that drama developed out of religious ritual. But how did this happen? And is the view unassailable? This important book, consisting of seventeen essays that grew out of a colloquium, is the most thorough and wide-ranging attempt for surprisingly many years to address these and related questions.' Robin Waterfield, Heythrop Journal

• 1. General introduction E. Csapo and M. C. Miller; Part I. Komasts and Pre-Dramatic Ritual: 2. Introduction T. H. Carpenter; 3. The corpus of Komast vases: from identity to exegesis T. J. Smith; 4. Komasts, mythical imaginary and ritual C. Isler-Kerenyi; 5. Let's hear it for the fat man: padded dancers and the prehistory of drama J. R. Green; 6. Discussion T. H. Carpenter; Part II. Emergence of Drama: 7. Introduction and discussion G. Nagy; 8. From hymn to tragedy: Aristotle's genealogy of poetic kinds D. Depew; 9. Myths of ritual in Athenian vase-paintings of Silens G. Hedreen; 10. From ritual to narrative M. Steinhart; 11. 'And now all the world shall dance!' (Eur. Bacch. 114): Dionysus' choroi between drama and ritual B. Kowlazig; Part III. Comparing Other Cultures: 12. Introduction K. C. Patton; 13. Ritual drama in an ancient Egypt R. J. Leprohon; 14. Ritual and performance, dance and drama in ancient Japan G. Zobel; 15. Representation in European devotional rituals: the question of the origin of medieval drama in medieval liturgy N. H. Petersen; 16. Discussion K. C. Patton; Part IV. From Ritual to Drama: 17. From ritual to drama: a concluding statement R. Seaford.