This book addresses the political aspects of fifth-century Athenian tragedies, setting them in their immediate historical context. It is an important topic and one that only rarely finds its way into accessible accounts of Greek tragedy. Carter sets out to elucidate to a student and general audience how and why Athenian tragedy should be read as a political art form. The political content of ancient drama has been the subject of much scholarly debate in the last thirty years or so; but much of that debate is highly and inaccessible. Carter demonstrates that like the contemporary satirical comedy of Aristophanes, or indeed the sculptures of the Parthenon, tragedy involved a highly political dimension. He provides stimulating and provocative analyses, from varied points of view, of the political aspect in several individual tragedies (always referred to in modern translations). To this he also adds a chapter on the 'reception' of political tragedy, alluding to theatre and film productions of the Greek plays which have taken an overtly political stance within their modern context. * Part of the acclaimed Greece & Rome Live Series, which aims to introduce figures and aspects of the ancient world to the general reader * All quotation from and reference to the plays relates to easily accessible versions in translation * Includes handy combined index/glossary and a guide to further reading