SOURCE: Ashby, Clifford. “The Limits of Evidence I: The Writings.” In Classical Greek Theatre: New Views of an Old Subject, pp. 1-14. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999.

In the following essay, Ashby argues that the relatively few surviving Greek plays are not necessarily representative and nor are they likely the best theatrically, and that much of what has been written about Greek theater in ancient times is given too much credence by modern scholars.

The Writings

Both written and archaeological sources concerning the Greek theatre are generally well known. Ronald Vince has discussed them at some length in Ancient and Medieval Theatre; more recently, Eric Csapo and William J. Slater have covered much the same body of material in The Context of Ancient Drama. It may then seem redundant to chew over the same information …, but one has only to compare the readings by Vince with those...