Ethnicity and the Stage 269Sassi, Maria. 2001.The Science of Man in Ancient Greece. Trans. P. Tucker. Chicago: The Uni-
versity of Chicago Press. A rich study on the Greeks’ interest in human nature and especially
differentiation (e.g., Greeks–barbarians, free men–slaves, men–women) from Homer to Late
Antiquity, with particular reference to the way in which the prejudiced view of the free Greek
male tailored the Greeks’ observations.
Scodel, Ruth. 2010.An Introduction to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press. Provides an accessible and stimulating introduction to Greek tragedy (definition
and context, interpretation of plays, scholarship on major issues, critical approach to widespread
assumptions) for readers not necessarily familiar with the genre.
Silk, Michael. 1990. “The People of Aristophanes.” In Christopher Pelling, ed.,Characteriza-
tion and Individuality in Greek Literature, 150–73. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Looks into the
complex theme of comic characterization and the Aristophanic characters’ inconsistency.
Tuplin, Christopher. 1996.Achaemenid Studies. Historia Einzelschriften 99. Stuttgart: Franz
Steiner Verlag. Relates in detail crucial facts and aspects of the history of the Persian Empire
under the reign of the Achaemenid dynasty, including the depiction of Persia in Athenian
literature.
Vidal-Naquet, Pierre. 1986.The Black Hunter: Forms of Thought and Forms of Society in the Greek
World. Trans. P. Szegedy-Maszak. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Provides a bold
and lively structuralist reading, analyzing the elaborate system of oppositions that pervade Greek
culture (cultivated–wild, citizen–foreigner, real–imaginary, etc.) and the patterns that link lit-
erary works with social activities or phenomena (slavery, war, education, commemoration).
Zeitlin, Froma. 1990. “Thebes: Theater of Self and Society in Athenian Drama.” In John Winkler
and Froma Zeitlin, eds.,Nothing to Do with Dionysos? Athenian Drama in Its Social Context,
131–67. Princeton: Princeton University Press. A thought-provoking and controversial article,
which sets up and exploits an absolute dichotomy between tragic Athens and Thebes.