This is a truly excellent two-volume companion to Euripides. The editor, Markantonatos, has gathered an outstanding international team of Euripidean scholars, who bring a wide range of interests and backgrounds. The Companion has 48 chapters structured into eight parts; this same eight-part structure appeared in Markantonatos's earlier edited volume Brill's Companion to Sophocles (2012). The first part examines the individual plays of Euripides, and the remaining seven parts discuss important thematic issues. Every chapter is of high quality and contains great insights into Euripides. Many of the authors have published extensively on Euripides in the past, often on the same subject matter they discuss here, and it is wonderful to see new work from these scholars in areas in which they have great expertise.

Markantonatos's stated aims for the book are to ‘make the relevant material more accessible to the general reader, without at the same time shunning sophisticated discussions … which will resonate with the advanced scholar’ (p. xii); however, I would say that this volume is best suited for those with at least some previous knowledge of Euripides and Euripidean scholarship. There are differences between chapters, often minor but occasionally significant, in the authors’ approaches and assumptions about the level of experience among readers. Some chapters on the individual plays provide plot summaries; others do not. Some authors include the Greek (occasionally untranslated, e.g. D. Iakov, M. Fantuzzi); others transliterate; some do both. A couple of the chapters seem to be pitched more at a scholarly audience than general readers due to their use of theoretical analyses (e.g. N. Worman) or close explication of nuanced arguments (e.g. Fantuzzi). With all this said, I would not hesitate to assign any of these chapters to advanced undergraduate or graduate students, and I can easily imagine pairing the chapter on a particular play with several thematic chapters that would complement it.

Part 1, ‘The Poet and His Work’, investigates the life, textual tradition and oeuvre of Euripides. W.B. Tyrrell (Chapter 1) collects and assesses the source material about Euripides’ life, which includes some fascinating anecdotes, rightly pointing out that Euripides ‘leads two lives: the meagre one eked out by modern scholars and the rich one elaborated by ancient biographers’ (p. 12). P.J. Finglass (Chapter 2) sketches the textual history of Euripides’ plays from the original actors’ scripts to the modern Oxford Classical Text and Loeb editions. One could easily get lost in the details of the particular editions and the myriad papyri from different centuries that preserve various fragments of Euripidean tragedies, but Finglass's step-by-step presentation tells a clear story about which Euripidean dramas were popular during which time periods and why they were so popular.

The remaining chapters in Part 1 (Chapters 3–22) analyse the plays of Euripides. Rather than go over these in order, I would like to illustrate some of the different approaches used. The first thing to note is that the chapters are built to suit the interpretative needs of the play at hand. For example, J. Gregory's Iphigenia at Aulis (Chapter 19), due to the textual questions concerning this play, spends extra time on the date of production and the text before moving on to the themes: the motif of Panhellenism, the sense of nostalgia, the changes of mind in multiple characters, the focus on education of both young men and women. Similarly, J. Gibert's Ion (Chapter 11) begins by highlighting the importance of the play's representation of rape before advancing to themes more universal in Greek tragedy: imaginary and theatrical space, gods and mortals, and myth and ritual.

Some chapters provide scene-by-scene guides through a particular lens. M. Ringer (Chapter 17) studies Orestes through the lens of modernity; J. Morwood (Chapter 9) considers Suppliant Women through Athenian democracy and development of character; J. Poe (Chapter 12) reads Trojan Women through Euripides’ fragmentary Alexander, the first play in the tetralogy, which would have served to frame various issues in Trojan Women.

Other authors provide a straightforward overview of a play, its themes and scholarly approaches. E. Griffiths's Helen (Chapter 15) serves as a model for this type of chapter, covering myth, plot summary, genre, key themes, character, staging, costume, gender, metre, religion, war and recent scholarly approaches. A. Kelly's (Chapter 4) discussion of Medea similarly treats the sort of material one would expect: the myth of Medea before Euripides, the role of gender in the play, Medea's many-sided character, and the play's influence and reception. L. Swift's Phoenician Women (Chapter 16) examines the plot, myth, the city of Thebes, family and the chorus. Embedded in these chapters are thought-provoking and innovative analyses: Griffiths ties Helen's focus on illusion vs reality to the importance of being able to determine fact from fiction at a particularly unstable historical moment in 412 bce; Kelly examines ring-composition in Medea's structure and the rhythmic effects of different choral songs in the play; Swift sees the identity of the chorus of Phoenician Women in a play set in Thebes as contributing a detached viewpoint that integrates the play on a thematic level.

Others approach the play to be presented from a particular stance. D. Carter (Chapter 5) thinks that we cannot interpret the political themes in Children of Heracles unless we see it first and foremost as a work of drama. A. Tzanetou (Chapter 8) interprets Hecuba as an imperial play about Athenian hegemony wherein Hecuba engages in counter-hegemonic resistance. N.S. Rabinowitz (Chapter 14) sees Iphigenia among the Taurians as blending genre, ritual, sexuality and gender through initiation, where the gendered differences between Iphigenia's and Orestes’ status as initiatory figures can account for the play's happy ending. Fantuzzi's Rhesus (Chapter 20) focuses on technical arguments for authenticity and the date of the play (late fourth century bce); his presentation is more suited to advanced scholars than general readers (cf. the overlap in material with Fantuzzi's recent edition and commentary of Rhesus [2020]). Although his suggestion that the comic elements in Rhesus were included due to the peculiarity of its main intertext (Iliad 10) is interesting, I find it less plausible than a natural development of paracomedy within tragedy (see C. Jendza, Paracomedy [2020]).

Some take the text at face value rather than reading between the lines for nuanced interpretations, as many have done. Iakov (Chapter 3) seeks to defend Admetus from the ‘ironic’ interpretation of Alcestis; he sees the relationship between Alcestis and Admetus as more authentic (and Admetus less selfish) than other critics tend to think. M. Dubischar (Chapter 10) argues against subtle ‘critical readings’ of Heracles that would require a detached audience; he suggests that amplificatio (in the steepness of Heracles’ fall, its undeservedness and the nobility of Theseus’ friendship) heightens the emotional and intellectual impact in the audience and therefore makes a detached, critical audience less likely.

I especially enjoyed the chapters that advanced a more cohesive interpretation of a play in addition to surveying the main themes. M. Mueller (Chapter 6) argues that the three main characters in Hippolytus (Nurse, Phaedra and Hippolytus) have distinct world views that prompt the formation of quasi-plots, which are in competition with each other until they finally coalesce into Aphrodite's revenge drama. E. Scharffenberger (Chapter 7) interprets Andromache as an interrogation of the vulnerability of human beings to loss and disaster, the causes of this loss and the challenging of entrenched prejudices that seek to affix blame for those causes. J. Barrett (Chapter 13) sees Electra as embodying a tension between the use of realism and the attention to its (fictional) theatricality; these issues, when combined with the play's extensive use of intertextuality, pose epistemological challenges that prod spectators to think clearly (which Aristophanes claims that Euripides does at Frogs 971–4). J. Billings (Chapter 18) sees Bacchae as conscious of itself both as ritual and as drama; the theological and the dramatic ambiguities present in the text can account for some of Bacchae's paradoxes, for example, that it feels equally archaising and contemporary.

A few chapters focus specifically and extensively on fragments. I. Karamanou (Chapter 21) tackles the fragments with a case study on Alexandros, explicating the plot, the sources and the play's relationship to other Euripidean tragedies, including other fragmentary ones. C. Shaw (Chapter 22) gives a balanced treatment of Euripidean satyr drama, putting the fragmentary satyr dramas on equal standing with Cyclops.

Part 2, ‘Euripidean Intertextuality: Epic Poetry and Attic Tragedy’, presents two distinct approaches toward Euripides’ engagement with other texts. While J. Davidson (Chapter 23) is concerned with enumerating the specific locations where Euripides engages with Homer, P. Pucci (Chapter 24) examines how Euripides adapts his source material to suit the intellectual climate of the late fifth century bce: his cases include the characterisation of Agamemnon as a despicable liar in IT, the transformation of the Furies into mere hallucinations in Orestes and Heracles’ scepticism towards the existence of gods in Heracles.

Part 3, ‘Euripides the Innovator: Language, Rhetoric, Realism and Emotion’, highlights how Euripides differentiated himself from his theatrical predecessors. L. Battezzato (Chapter 25) studies Euripidean language, both from a philological perspective (Euripides’ morphology, syntax and vocabulary, often with statistical comparisons to other dramatists) and, more interestingly, from a sociolinguistic perspective (Euripides’ portrayal of female language). P. O'Sullivan (Chapter 26) situates Euripides’ use of rhetoric, argumentation and persuasion within broader rhetorical theory from Gorgias to Quintilian. Even when Euripides employs familiar rhetorical techniques (reductio ad absurdum, prokatalepsis, eikos arguments, ēthos), these attempts at persuasion tend to be unsuccessful within the plays, though they provide interesting insight into human motivation and psychology. M. Lloyd (Chapter 27) interprets realism broadly, where Euripides’ incorporation of domestic, commonplace and everyday material is realist, but also his characters’ psychology, his concern with establishing coherence and verifiability, and his presentation of topography. E. Visvardi's (Chapter 28) analysis of emotion in Euripides focuses on pity, anger, eros and joy, highlighting the interrelatedness of these emotions and their role in shaping relationships between individuals and communities; her study of pity and anger in Hecuba is particularly strong.

Part 4, ‘Image, Chorus, and Performance’, explores various visual aspects of Euripides. M.L. Hart's (Chapter 29) study of the relationship between text and image walks us through a series of vase paintings with iconography informed by Euripidean drama; she makes the prudent decision to organise this material according to region of production rather than play. M. Stieber (Chapter 30) analyses Euripides’ engagement with artefacts and craft, especially his allusions to artworks (e.g. Orestes and Pylades likened to statues in IT), his adoption of technical artisanal language and his use of the conceptual underpinnings of contemporary artisanal activity. S. Miles (Chapter 31) impressively manages to cover the entirety of Euripidean stagecraft in a single chapter, with attention to how props, costume, metadrama and stage machinery achieve their effects in Euripidean drama. She concludes with a case study of how character movements in Heracles reinforce the emotional register of those characters and provoke audience emotion. Worman's (Chapter 32) theoretical and somewhat dense chapter discusses the ‘aesthetics of embodiment’ in Euripides, especially the relationship between different bodies or between bodies and clothing onstage; she discusses phenomena such as touching or being in proximity to bodies as well as the handling of clothing and bodily accessories. C. Calame (Chapter 33) shows how choruses can be evaluated in three respects: through their identity (often intersectional and marginalised), their voice (polyphonic in their performative, affective and interpretative voice) and their involvement in the action. A. Lamari (Chapter 34) discusses reperformance (and non-Athenian performance) of Euripidean tragedy; while she makes a convincing case that reperformance occurred, the evidence for the specifics of the reperformances is often slim and inferential.

Part 5, ‘Religion, History, and Politics’, discusses social aspects of Euripidean drama. R. Rehm (Chapter 35) argues that ritual (e.g. supplication, oaths, curses, sacrifice, weddings, funerals) in Euripides tends to mark a dramatic crisis or character revelation and asks the question whether we should think of tragic choruses as serving an extra-dramatic ritual function. C. Semenzato (Chapter 36) examines how Euripides integrates mystical religions (generally Eleusinian, Dionysiac and Orphic imagery) into his plays, most obviously in Bacchae, but also throughout the Euripidean corpus. S. Mills (Chapter 37) adopts a ‘both/and’ approach to the question of whether Euripides’ portrayal of Athenian imperialism constitutes simple propaganda or nuanced critique; different audience members would have interpreted plays with imperialist themes like Children of Heracles or Suppliant Women differently.

Part 6, ‘Euripidean Anthropology: Status, Function, and Gender’, explores the social standing of certain Euripidean characters. D.L. Munteanu (Chapter 38) analyses the qualities of Euripides’ depiction of women's voices that must have seemed extraordinary to the audience: a preoccupation with women's suffering and isolation; a focus on female solidarity; and a search for ways to define women's reputation, either by aligning with male glory or by highlighting feminine merits. P. Kyriakou (Chapter 39) establishes the following criteria for a definition of a ‘minor character’ in Euripides – place within the plot, place within the literary/mythological tradition, social status, size of the part – and then discusses various attendants, slaves, nurses, tutors and free people that satisfy these criteria. F. Yoon (Chapter 40) delineates two functions for heralds – as representative agents and personal agents – and shows how a herald like Talthybius in Trojan Women can be a sophisticated character with both personal pity for the Trojan Women and efficient obedience to the commands of the senders.

Part 7, ‘Euripides: Ancient Culture, Philosophy, and Comedy’, explores the intellectual side of Euripides. F. Dunn (Chapter 41) advances the interesting claim that some of Euripides’ later tragedies are the first to depict the process of forming or altering affective attachments – Andromeda shows Perseus and Andromeda falling in love together, and IA explores a large nexus of interrelated, shifting interpersonal bonds. R. Scodel's (Chapter 42) piece on Euripides and philosophy argues that Euripides was interested in a wide range of ethical, scientific, theological and political issues, many of which emerged in his plays in ways that might have been socially disturbing, especially for those with strong traditional beliefs in the gods. N.W. Slater (Chapter 43) discusses the reception of Euripides in Old Comedy, detailing the parodic picture that comic poets painted of Euripides before analysing three major examples of Aristophanic reception of Euripides (Acharnians, Thesmophoriazusae, Frogs); he also touches on Euripides’ incorporation of comic elements via paracomedy.

Part 8, ‘Euripides Made New: Modern Reception, Translation, and Performance’, begins with a brief note from H. Foley about how this Part expands upon the earlier Brill's Companion to the Reception of Euripides (2015). H. Roisman (Chapter 44) analyses the twentieth-century reception of Electra through three French plays and one Serbian one, all of which show interesting developments of character; Aegisthus, for example, is much more sympathetic in many of these versions. P. Woodruff (Chapter 45) reminds us that ‘at every step, translators are making choices’ (p. 1046); it is impossible for an English translation to reflect every aspect of Euripides. He provides a helpful cost-benefit analysis of various techniques translators have used to render Euripidean poetry (e.g. rhyme, repetition and spacing), imagery, tone and ambiguity. Foley (Chapter 46), in her discussion of modern Anglo-American stage versions of Trojan Women and Bacchae, shows how productions changed to suit the times and to resonate with audiences (e.g. a 1941 version of Trojan Women set in Nazi-ravaged Rotterdam; a 2006 version set in a refugee camp in Africa). M. Smethurst (Chapter 47) shows how Japanese playwrights, equally inspired by Greek tragedy and traditional theatre forms from Japan, created inspiring and unique productions of Euripides’ Trojan Women and Medea that must have been truly wondrous to see. M. Fradinger (Chapter 48) has uncovered some 39 versions of Medea in Latin America, thirteen of which are available Argentine texts. Some are faithful to the Euripidean source, while others ‘nationalize’ the characters; yet even in these Medea remains a foreign figure – how can Medea's infanticide possibly be understood within the cultural language of motherhood for modern Argentines?

My editorial criticisms of the Companion are quite small. There are a few typos but nothing too distracting. This is an exceptional scholarly volume on Euripides, and it is worth briefly comparing it to L. McClure's recent A Companion to Euripides (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) since both feature chapters on the extant plays and important themes within Euripides. The Brill volume is almost twice as long as the Wiley one (1183 vs 614 pages), and it might be tempting to say that it is better since it is more comprehensive. While this might be true – there is a greater quantity of content in the Brill volume –, they should rather be used in conjunction with each other since there are differences in coverage (for example, the Wiley Companion has dedicated chapters on myth, music and Senecan reception, which are lacking in the Brill Companion), and they present material differently. One example: Visvardi's chapter on Alcestis in the Wiley volume focuses more on genre, structure, gender and emotion within the play, whereas Iakov's chapter on Alcestis in the Brill volume gives a literary interpretation of the play as a folktale drama, which seeks to rehabilitate the moral character of Admetus. Every author in Brill's Companion to Euripides has contributed something new, informative and exceptionally valuable to readers, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Euripides or Greek drama.