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The History Of European Theatre
Troilus and Cressida: ‘Men prize the thing ungained more than it is’
Episode 201
‘Troilus and Cressida’, is a challenging piece by pretty much everybody’s estimation. Although it is no surprise that Shakespeare looked to the Homeric tales for his next inspiration which part of that story he chose to dramatize perhaps is and what he chose to do with it has perplexed commentators ever since. Ambiguous is the word most often used, but ultimately opinions range through ‘failure’ to ‘misunderstood’ to ‘modernistic’, and just about everything else in-between.
The early print history and dating of the play
The confusion caused by the two quarto versions and the First Folio version
The source material for the play
A brief synopsis of the play
‘Troilus and Cressida’ as a ‘problem play’
The Prologue
The play as an ensemble piece
The ignoble nature of the characters in the play
Cassandra as the voice of truth
Troilus and his view of Cressida
Is there a parallel with Romeo and Juliet?
The portrayal of Achilles and Hector
Ulysses and the ‘great chain of being’ argument
Was the play written for the Inns of Court?
Pandarus and the bitter ending to the play explained
The critical reception of the play
The performance history of the play
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1. Prologue and Pre History
25:26||Season 1, Ep. 1Episode 1An Introduction to the podcast and your host.Pre-history and how the urge to mimic and present might have been the start of theatre.Religious ritual and Shamanism.The Abydos Passion play and the Egyptian Book of the Dead.The beginning of Greek Theatre.A note on dates and the nature of translations.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy1. Trailer
03:52||Ep. 1An introduction to The History Of European Theatre PodcastThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy2. Dionysus and the beginning of Greek Theatre
26:53||Season 1, Ep. 2Episode 2An overview of the history of Greece to the 5th Century BCE including Minoan and Mycenaean periods, the Greek dark age and the rise of the city state.The development of the religious festivals and their main featuresAn overview of the main playwrights and their plays:AeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesMenanderThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy3. The Place Of Seeing
31:49||Season 1, Ep. 3Episode 3The vocabulary of the theatre we inherit from the GreeksThe layout of the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens and it's main featuresDevelopments in the theatre over timeThe ChorusStage MachineryMasks and costumeThe judging and prizesThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy4. Aeschylus: The First Tragedies
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