Matthew Wright brings Menander's Samia to life by explaining how it achieves its comic effects and how it fits within the broader context of fourth-century Greek drama and society. He offers a scene-by-scene reading of the play, combining close attention to detail with broader consideration of major themes, in an approach designed to bring out the humour and nuance of each individual moment on stage, while also illuminating Menander's comic art.

The play dramatizes a tangled story of mistakes, mishaps and misapprehensions leading up to the marriage of Moschion and Plangon. For most of the action the characters are at odds with one another owing to accidental delusions or deliberate deceptions, and it seems as if the marriage will be cancelled or indefinitely postponed; but ultimately everyone's problems are solved and the play ends happily. Samia is one of the best-preserved examples of fourth-century Greek comedy: celebrated within antiquity but subsequently lost for many years, it miraculously came back to light, in almost complete form, as a result of Egyptian papyrus finds during the 20th century.

A scene-by-scene guide to Menander's comedy Samia, combining close analyses of the text with broader considerations of the play's themes, humor and place within ancient Greek drama.

About the Author
Matthew Wright is Professor of Greek at the University of Exeter, UK. He has published widely on Greek tragedy and comedy, including The Lost Plays of Greek Tragedy (Volumes 1 and 2) (Bloomsbury Academic, 2016 and 2018) and The Comedian as Critic (Bloomsbury, 2012).

Reviews
The accessibility of Wright's discussion is a real strength ... [Wright is] able to render the topic intelligible to a non-expert audience without making it simplistic ... This is an excellent companion to set as secondary reading to give an overview of this specific play, Menander as a whole, and the core questions of scholarship. * Journal of Classics Teaching *
W. succeeds marvellously in showing that Samia is fun to read and stage, and that Menander is not flat, dull, lame or predictable ... W.'s interpretation of Samia is up to date in its scholarship, sensitive to the key issues involved in interpreting Menander's plays, entertaining to read and accessible to a broad public. I recommend W.'s Samia to all students and scholars who are interested in classical studies, ancient drama and cultural studies in general. * The Classical Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9781350124776
Author Dr Matthew Wright
Format Hardback
Page Count 176
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 354g