Female Acts in Greek Tragedy

"Helene Foley's book is exemplary in its use of a variety of approaches and it casts new light on both familiar and unfamiliar aspects of the tragic texts and Greek culture. Her treatment of myth, ritual, and dramatic plot, for example, is much richer and more nuanced than readings that have looked almost exclusively at the patriarchal aspects of the representation of women. Written in a fashion that is accessible to nonspecialists, this book will interest anthropologists, philosophers specializing in ethics, and scholars of gender studies--as well as classicists."--Donald J. Mastronarde, University of California, Berkeley

"An important book that will become the standard starting point for studying the representation of female characters in Greek tragedy. Many readers will be relieved to find that the family does after all provide opportunities for worthwhile moral agency on the part of its female members, and that Greek tragedy can be enjoyed and appreciated for its constructive critique, not its reinforcement, of classical Greek political and social inequities. This book should be read by specialists and general readers interested in drama, gender issues, and Greek civilization."--Mark Griffith, University of California, Berkeley

"This book will rank with Segal's "Tragedy and Civilization" as one of the most important works on tragedy in this century. The reading is nuanced and sophisticated and covers a wide range of texts while providing considerable social and historical context. The section on women as moral agents comprehensively treats a topic that has been almost entirely ignored in other works on women in tragedy."--Kirk Ormand, author of "Exchange and the Maiden: Marriage in Sophoclean Tragedy"