The Facts On File Companion to Classical Drama was written for those without any previous introduction to classical studies or the ancient Greek or Latin language.
In this book, classical drama is taken to refer primarily to plays. Written by Greek and Roman authors. Understanding classical drama is a daunting task. Of the thousands of plays written during this period, only about 85 survive in more or less complete form, and though we know the names of some 300 classical playwrights, the surviving 85 plays can be attributed to only eight writers: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, Terence, and Seneca.

This volume contains the poetic fragments of the two illustrious singers of early sixth-century Lesbos: Sappho, the most famous woman poet of antiquity, whose main theme was love; and Alcaeus, poet of wine, war, and politics, and composer of short hymns to the gods. Also included are the principal testimonia, the ancients' reports on the lives and work of the two poets.

BILINGUAL
Greek (some latin in Testimonia) on left page, English translation on the adjoining page.

This accessible one-volume survey of the literature of Greece and Rome covers the period between Homer around 700 BC and Augustine around AD 410.

• Highlights what is important historically and of continuing interest and value in classical literature.
• An introduction by the editor presents essential information in a concise, accessible way.
• Each chapter focuses on a particular genre or area of literature.
• This structure allows readers to see continuities between different periods and to move easily between the Greek and Roman worlds.
• Includes extensive quotations in English.
• A timeline and an index of authors help to make the material as accessible as possible.