Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy is the first comprehensive reference work to cover all facets of the distinct form of dramatic theater that flourished in ancient Greece with its apex in the 5th century BCE. Offers the first comprehensive reference work to cover all facets of the distinct form of dramatic theater that flourished in ancient Greece with its apex in the 5th century BCE Covers the 32 extant plays and playwrights of the period, including the great surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and their contemporaries, and considers lost works and surviving fragments Explores topics including the origins and history of Greek tragedy; their texts, language, style, and rhetoric; as well as recurrent themes such as family, death, and adultery Provides an invaluable reference to the most important dramatic genre of the ancient Greek world, and to the historical, philosophical, cultural, and political contexts in which these plays were performed 3 Volumes www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/ref/greektragedy