The past pervades Greek tragedy, says Kyriakou (Greek, Aristotle U. of Thessaloniki, Greece), because with few exceptions the stories and characters were already ancient then and had been
treated many times in different artistic genres, particularly poetry. She examines the import of the past within the surviving plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles, investigating whether the
treatment of the past differs within the work of each poet and between them. The past in this case is the time of events that precede those dramatized in the plays. The question of freedom of
choice cannot be ignored when the impact of the past is considered, she says, but that is not a major concern in this work. She examines the plays one by one. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
