This book is intended for speakers of English who want or need to know about Greek tragedy. It tries to perform several jobs: to provide background information about Greek tragedy; to help its readers appreciate, enjoy, and understand the plays themselves; and to give readers an idea of what questions professional scholars have been asking about tragedy. It also seeks to dispel assumptions about tragedy that seem still to be standard in high schools. I deliberately chose to write chapters about some of the tragedies that are most familiar but also a few that are less well known – Persians, Helen, and Orestes – in order to provide a broader sense of what a tragedy can be.

I have tried to be honest. There are many scholarly debates about tragedy. Where I have strong views, I have put them forward – the opportunity to express them was my main inducement to write the book – but I hope I have not been unfair to those who disagree. At the end of each chapter is a brief section of “Sources and Suggestions.” The “Suggestions” are suggestions for further reading. I added “Sources” because I have also used this space to locate what I have said in ongoing controversies where I thought it would help a reader to place my views on the large continuum.