GREEK DRAMA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22512, 1 September 1936, Page 5

GREEK DRAMA

ADDRESS AT Y.W.C.A. "The Medea, in which many New Zealanders remember seeing Sybil Thorndike a few years ago, is considered one of Euripides' best plays. It won only third prize, however, in the year in which it was originally offered for competition in ancient Greece, so that we do not know what we have lost in the 90 per cent of Greek plays which are known to be missing," said Mr. J. H. Harvey, in the course of an address on Gre.sk Drama, to members of the Wellington Old Girls' Association in the Y.W.C.A. social room on Friday night. Mrs. J. lnnes presided. A description of the Greek stage, its actors and its chorus was given by Mr. Harvey, who touched also upon the fo.ur great names in Greek Drama — Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. Of these four, the first three, the tragedians, were the most lasting, because although the basic emotions of tragedy remained the same, the current idea of humour changed. Mr. Harvey concluded his talk with a reading from "Agamemnon," the dramatic tale of the Jmppenings after the fall of Troy. Although this play was written over 2500 years ago, the human quality was still predominant and things happened in it which would happen to-day.