T. B. L. Webster – författare

Greek Theatre Production, first published in 1956, is based on an expert knowledge of Greek plays and monuments. In this second edition from 1970, Professor Webster made additions and corrections to bring it up to date.Scenery, staging and costumes are the three main topics. These are treated chronologically within geographical areas, and evidence is given for local productions of drama throughout the Greek-speaking world from the sixth century B.C. to the Roman period. The survival of local pre-dramatic performances, which may have affected local dramatic costume, is examined here.A final chapter collects the local evidence into a continuous story, tracing the history of staging, scenery and costumes from the earliest times, and gives full weight to the dominating influence of Athens during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., and the international character of Hellenistic production. A catalogue lists over 250 of the most important monuments, of which about 40 are illustrated and includes many which would not have been found in the usual textbooks at the time.

The Hellenistic age is the link between classical Greece and Rome. Originally published in 1964, this book traces the history of Hellenistic poetry and art as parallel phenomena. It starts in mainland Greece with New Comedy, Anyte, and Aratos and discusses the art of the Tanagra figurines and the Pella mosaics. Successive chapters deal with the major figures of Alexandrian art down to the end of the second century B.C. In Asia Minor (except for Kos and Rhodes, already treated with Alexandria) the art is more significant than the poetry, particularly the art of Pergamon, but Antipater of Sidon and Meleager of Gadara are important poets, who are treated in some detail. The mainland Greek story is continued with Kleanthes, Leonidas, Euphorion, and the later mainland poets, and with the neo-Classical style in art, which gives place to the archaistic mannerism of the neo-Attic style at the end of the second century. The last chapter deals with poetry and art in Italy; first with the early Hellenistic civilization of Sicily and Southern Italy, and then with the successive waves of Greek influence on the Romans. This history of Roman poetry down to Catullus is viewed from the angle of its indebtedness to Greek sources, and in conclusion the import of works of art and the later immigration of Greek artists is taken into consideration.

The Greek chorus was an essential part of Greek life. It varied in scale from the tiny festival conducted by the family to the choruses of fifty men or boys which competed in honour of Dionysos at Athens, and in tone from the songs in honour of athletic victories to the solemn tragic choruses of Aeschylus or the comic choruses of Aristophanes. By means of the surviving texts and pictures, and the accounts of ancient authors. Its history can be traced from pre-Greek times to the Hellenistic age.Originally published in 1970, this book is primarily concerned to relate the history of the dance, an aspect of the chorus which had so far been inadequately presented. The author describes the visual appearance of the chorus on Greek vases and reliefs from the eighth to the fourth century B.C. He then discusses the choral performances themselves, with reference to the literary sources, and emphasis is given here to the development of the metre, which was fundamental in providing the rhythm for words, music and dance. In some cases, where we have both textual and pictorial evidence, we can visualize the chorus and at the same time discover the tempo of their dance.The interplay of the traditional and the original is of great importance to the development of the Greek chorus. Professor Webster explains how far the Greek chorus was based on tradition, when and where innovations were made, and to what extent different types of chorus influenced each other.

Pottery is the one industry in ancient Athens of which we have some detailed knowledge. In this book, originally published in 1972, Professor Webster examines the workshops, the painted pots and their purchasers over the period 600–400 B.C.The first chapter assembles the evidence for the size and organization of the industry, which seems to have consisted of a dozen or so family workshops, surviving through several generations and producing, besides painted pottery, black-glaze pottery and lamps, moulded vases and plain ware. In stock vases the relation of the scene, whether from everyday life or mythology, to the shape or use of the vase and the popularity of different scenes and treatments at different times are discussed.The history of the subjects of painted pottery is also a history of the taste of the purchasers. A considerable number of special commissions can be detected either because the scene is unique or because the names of individuals are attached to figures in stock scenes. Various kinds of evidence for purchase are given in the last chapter, which demonstrates that the majority of vases were equally acceptable for home use, dedication, offering at the tomb or for export, new or second-hand. It is seen that the pace was set by large consumers who might order new vases whenever they gave a symposium, and that those whose names are known were the leading men of Athens.