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Plays set in ancient Greece

  • Troilus and CressidaIn the year 1602, William Shakespeare began writing a play that would confuse audiences for four centuries. The story draws from two distinct traditions that…
  • Medea (play)In 431 BC, the City Dionysia festival in Athens hosted a fierce competition among three tragedians. Euphorion, son of Aeschylus, won first prize that year.
  • The Birds (play)The year was 414 BC when Aristophanes presented The Birds at the City Dionysia festival in Athens. The play secured second place among the competing…
  • A Midsummer Night's DreamFour days before the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, Hermia stands in Athens facing a choice that could end her life.
  • The PersiansAeschylus presented The Persians at Athens' City Dionysia festival in 472 BC. Pericles served as the choregos for this production.
  • The FrogsIn the winter of 405 BC, Athens stood on the brink of collapse. The Peloponnesian War had drained the city for over twenty years.
  • The Two Noble KinsmenThree queens arrive at the gates of Athens to plead with Theseus and Hippolyta. They demand justice for their husbands, who were killed by Creon of Thebes.
  • Oedipus RexScholars debate the exact year Sophocles first staged Oedipus Rex, though some point to a devastating plague that struck Athens in 430 BC.
  • Antigone (Anouilh play)On the 6th of February 1944, the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Paris opened its doors to a packed house. The city was under Nazi occupation, and every performance…
  • Pericles, Prince of TyreIn 1609, a quarto edition of Pericles appeared on the London bookstalls with no author listed. The title page claimed it was written by William Shakespeare…
  • The BacchaeEuripides wrote The Bacchae during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I. The play premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in…
  • Prometheus BoundThe hammer strikes the mountain in Scythia, sending sparks into the cold air. Kratos and Bia stand over a silent figure bound to the cliff face.
  • The Comedy of ErrorsWilliam Shakespeare wrote The Comedy of Errors during the latter part of 1594. This play stands as one of his earliest works and remains his shortest comedy…