The organization of the dramatic festivals of Athens is discussed in this book together with the actors, acting style, dancing, music, costumes and the audience, its tastes and behaviour. In this second edition the editors have added a new supplement in order to bring the work up-to-date.

This reissue with a new supplement is fully expanded and brought up-to-date. It discusses the organization of the dramatic festivals, describes the acting style, actors, costumes, dancing, music, and audiences' tastes and behavior, and provides a full presentation of the literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence on which any discussion of the dramatic festivals is based, such as the difficulties of interpretation.

'(this) scholarly and informative book is ... a great contribution to the history of ancient drama and civilization.' M. Beiber, American Journal of Philology