Bacchae /

This is the ninth volume in a series of texts of Euripidean plays designed primarily for classroom use. The English translation of the play is printed facing a slightly modified version of James Diggle's (Oxford Greek text). A general introduction to the series discusses the ancient theater, Greek tragedy, and Euripides; a general bibliography supplements it. Seaford has added an introduction and bibliography specific to the Bacchae, along with a lengthy commentary. The superb introduction and commentary focus on Seaford's particular area of interest (see his Reciprocity and Ritual, CH, Feb'95), drawing judiciously on the religious (Dionysiac mysteries) and political (ideology of the Greek city-state) themes and including also a good discussion of other approaches. The full and exhaustive commentary explores a number of interpretive issues in valuable and enlightening detail. Thus, this volume makes recent and innovative scholarship available to intermediate level students. The translation is literal but eminently readable. An excellent edition, which upper-division undergraduate and beginning graduate students will use with profit, and which scholars in the field will also want to consult. M. A. Katz Wesleyan University