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VELLACOTT, Ph., Ironic Drama. A Study of Euripides' Method and Meaning. Cambridge University Press, London / New York, 1978. X,266p. Paperback. Front cover partly a bit discoloured. Upper part title page slightly creased. 'The premiss of Vellacott's study is that Euripides spoke habitually to his audience with two voices: one of simple, on-the-surface meaning and dramatic effect, the other of subtle, searching, and pervasive irony, audible only to the intelligent and discerning, as preoccupied and disturbed as he was himself by 'the two great controversial moral issues which are painfully unsolved in our own day as the were in his - the position of women in society and man's behaviour in war' (p.7). So he attempts 'first ... to distinguish between what is ironic and what is direct ... second, to relate situations, speeches, actions and moral attitudes found in the plays more directly to the life of the Athenians who formed the first audience than is usually thought to be valid' (pp.15 f.). (...) A most aggravating, I think wrong-headed, but also stimulating book, written with enviable fluency and appeal.' (CHRISTOPHER COLLARD in The Classical Review (New Series), 1978, pp.6-7). € 25.00 (Antiquarian)