William Allan is McConnell Laing Fellow and Tutor in Classical Languages and Literature at University College, Oxford.

"Allan's commentary is a valuable and needed contribution to the study and dissemination of Euripides' Helen. It is rich in contextual information, straightforward in its analysis and contentions, and judicious in its treatment of the text. Additionally, it does a significant portion of the necessary work of bringing the last four decades of scholarship to bear upon our reading of the play. For all these reasons, Allan's new commentary will go a long way towards achieving his stated goal of demonstrating that 'Helen is an extraordinary exuberant and inventive drama that deserves to be read (and performed) more widely.'" --BMCR

• Introduction; 1. Euripides and Athens; 2. The figure of Helen in early Greek culture; 3. Helen on stage; 4. The 'New Helen'; 5. The production; 6. A tragedy of ideas; 7. Genre; 8. Helen transformed; 9. The text and its transmission; Helen; Commentary.