In this thought-provoking book, Naomi Weiss explores a range of passages from classical dramatic texts and a selection of vases from the same period. She does so within the broader framework of what has taken the form and title of the so-called cognitive approaches to ancient sources in recent decades. The term ‘cognitive’ is very broad, covering a wide range of ideas (for an overview see recently Novokhatko, Anna A. A Guide to Classics and Cognitive Studies: Reviewing Findings and Results (Berlin 2025)). In Weiss’ monograph, the concept of space is considered from a cognitive perspective and the synaesthetic mode of perception.
Both dimensions, a spatial and a synaesthetic one, are effectively captured in the phenomenon of theatre as a literal ‘place for seeing’ (13–15). By taking a transmedial stance and analysing both dramatic texts and vase painting, Weiss helpfully reveals how complicated the relationship between the means and object of representation in theatre can be. She also illustrates how both playwrights and vase painters appeared to perceive what she refers to as ‘theatre’s phenomenological complexity’ (209) as Stanton B. Garner’s coinage ‘play of actuality’ (Bodied Spaces: Phenomenology and Performance in Contemporary Drama (Ithaca 1994)), an ongoing change and movement between the seen and the unseen, the present and the absent.
The topic of gaze and visuality in the ancient world has been the subject of much research over recent decades, with a great deal of relevant debates and bibliography. Weiss’ analysis builds on these studies and focuses on the interaction between internal and external spectators, offering some interesting insights into how the act of viewing is experienced.
Weiss begins with an examination of the examples of archaic choral lyric and 6th-century sympotic vases (15–30). Both media depict choruses, epiphanic processions and the means of ritual representation that are characteristic of the performance and the viewing experience. Weiss proposes that these performances may be particularly beneficial to consider in the context of the origins of Dionysian theatre, which emerged in the late sixth century.
Following this, Weiss builds on a solid theoretical foundation, drawing on insights from modern European and contemporary theatre studies, as well as the role of the spectator in drama production. She turns to the concept of ‘emancipated spectators’ (Jacques Rancière, The Emancipated Spectator (London 2011)), exploring how we today and how ancient audiences perceive and engage with ancient theatrical productions, particularly through the lens of Greek dramatic texts. I wonder if at this point it might be helpful to consider the concept of ‘participatory culture’ as it relates to social media, as explored by Henry Jenkins and Christian Fuchs (Social Media as Participatory Culture (London 2014)). Their work offers a comprehensive examination of the various aspects of ‘participation’. However, Weiss chose to focus on phenomenology and to put forth the idea that spectators can be considered participants in the production, alongside the actors and technicians, ‘not just seeing but making theatre’ (32).
The first chapter considers the construction of what Weiss terms ‘dramatic space’ (a term used to encapsulate a broader phenomenology of space during a theatre performance, experienced by the audience through a blend of different signs and sensory inputs) in Greek plays. Weiss suggests that playwrights (e.g. Soph. El. 8–10) may have considered ways of influencing the audience’s experience of a play’s setting and their viewing experiences. She suggests also that internal spectators can play a role in an audience’s emotional response to the ‘dramatic space’. In the following discussion of the paradigmatic passages from Aristophanes’ Acharnians, Women at the Thesmophoria and Assemblywomen, blending of theatre and assembly in terms of their spatial organization is in focus.
The second chapter puts forth the idea that some texts may challenge the traditional equivalences between the means and objects of representation. Tragedy, comedy and satyr play all engage with the fundamental aspects of theatre, where the act of seeing becomes a complex and dynamic process. A series of insightful publications by Peter Meineck (2011, 2012, 2017, 2019) have offered a new perspective on the concept of the mask, prompting us to consider its deeper meanings. Weiss builds upon this foundation, exploring the ways in which a character can be embodied through a mask or costume (e.g. Aeschylus’ Theoroi (fr. 78a1TrGF), Euripides’ Bacchae (1277), and on the Apulian red-figure bell crater attributed to the Tarporley Painter, 80–91).
The third chapter is particularly impactful, as it explores the experience of bodily pain on stage and offstage and the shared physiological response of the internal and external spectators to it (Euripides’ Cyclops, Hecuba, Sophocles’ Oedipus, and especially an inspiring discussion of audience’ engagement with Prometheus’ synaesthetic suffering in [Aeschylus’] Prometheus Bound, 138–159).
The concluding chapter turns our attention to vase painting, with an analysis of three fifth-century BCE Attic vases: a column-krater in Basel (500s to the 490s BCE), featuring an image of a singing and dancing chorus, a calyx-krater in London (inv. 1856,1213.1), from the mid-400s, which depicts Pandora and a variety of performance styles, and a calyx-krater in Naples (inv. 205239), from the third quarter of the fifth century, with an aulete and two figures in bird costume. Weiss makes a strong case for the self-referential nature of vase-painting, pointing to the intricate relationship between the viewer, the performer’s body and the masks and costumes that facilitate his assumption of a role. I feel that there are several parallels to be drawn with contemporary comic texts which discuss their own engagement with the play between actuality and virtuality. In addition, I believe that the alienation and detachment effects of both comic texts and vases in regard to the play between actuality and virtuality could be more clearly identified. If I might suggest, this book could benefit from a more in-depth exploration of the potential of comedy, particularly in terms of self-referentiality and the profound emotional and sensorial impact of spectators’ laughter. I believe that delving into these aspects in the discussion of seeing in comic passages could offer a valuable additional dimension.
In all other respects, Weiss’ monograph is a brilliant, thought-provoking and compelling study of classical theatre, which builds upon contemporary research in philosophy, cognitive science and aesthetics. It would be greatly beneficial for students, scholars and anyone with an interest in Classical Greek theatre to read this book, as it offers a fascinating insight into the subject, which the author has entitled ‘phenomenological complexity’.
