Essays on Euripidean Drama

Essays on Euripidean Drama by Gilbert Norwood is a landmark collection that reconsiders Euripides’ art through close analysis of four central plays. Written by a leading classicist of his generation, these essays take up long-standing puzzles in Euripidean criticism—from the divine epiphanies of The Bacchae, to the interplay of human and divine agency in Hippolytus, to the structural oddities of the Supplices. Norwood combines philological rigor with literary sensitivity, showing how Euripides’ dramaturgy—so often derided by ancient rivals and modern critics alike—reflects both deliberate experiment and a willingness to unsettle audience expectations. Rather than treating Euripides as a flawed imitator of Aeschylus and Sophocles, Norwood situates him as a dramatist of restless imagination, whose sudden tonal shifts, sardonic wit, and “rescue-drama” tendencies anticipate later developments in European theater. By tracing both inconsistencies and triumphs across these plays, Essays on Euripidean Drama argues that Euripides was less a classical “lawgiver of tragedy” than a romantic innovator, inviting audiences into an art of doubt, surprise, and irony. The volume remains a touchstone for scholars and students interested in understanding why Euripides continues to divide opinion and yet exert profound influence across the centuries. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.