Pots & Plays: Interactions Between Tragedy and Greek Vase-Painting of the Fourth Century B.C.
About this ebook
and interest than comedy, past studies of the depiction on ceramic vases of
theater scenes have mostly concentrated on comedies. A significant proportion
of the vases with depictions of tragedy was first published only in the last twenty-five
years. There has been no sustained attempt to discuss these exciting additions
in relation to tragedy, nor to reconsider the cultural context in the light of
these discoveries.
Oliver
Taplin here sets out to examine the previously understudied tragic scenes.
Through detailed scrutiny of some 109 vases and vase fragments with depictions
of Greek tragedies, he is able to identify plays and scenes by the great
playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Some scenes can with great
certainty be identified with surviving tragedies, while the author more
tentatively suggests that others may depict scenes from tragedies that are now
lost or survive only as fragments.
Despite the
uncertainties of many identifications, Taplin demonstrates that some Greek
vase-paintings are significantly related to tragedies, and that the two art
forms throw light on each other. Appreciation of this interrelationship
enhances the quality and power of both drama and vase-painting.
