Greek and Roman Actors. Aspects of an Ancient Profession.

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (...), 2002. 1st ed. XXXI,510p. ills. Cloth wrps. Nice copy. 'This fresh, valuable, and scrupulously edited volume explores an understudied topic: the acting profession throughout the whole of Graeco-Roman antiquity. Although the evidence is fragmentary, the essays in this volume touch on the full range of literary, historical, and material sources and include actors of mime and pantomime, singers and musicians, as well as the better-known theatre actors. The book is devided into three parts. Part 1 addresses different performative modes and styles; it includes singing actors and musicians, as well as the actors? use of costume, gesture, movement, and voice. Part 2 examines the acting profession from Classical Athens to late antiquity and Byzantium and its status at different periods; two essays take a look at the problems of interpreting visual depictions of actors at Aphrodisias and Ephesus. The final part deals with acting in the cultural and literary imagination, including the reception of ancient actors since the Renaissance. Each of the twenty chapters offers suggestions for further reading.' (HELENE P. FOLEY in Classical Philology 2004, p.169). With contributions from a.o.: Edith Hall, Peter Wilson, Richard Green, Gregory Sifakis, Jane Lightfoot, Ruth Webb, Pat Easterling, Elaine Fantham, Ismene Lada-Richards. From the library of the late Prof. W. Geoffrey Arnott.