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Wallace, Robert W., The Areopagos Council, to 307 B.C. Until the publication of this scholarly work, no study of the Aeropagos Council of Athens had been undertaken since Philippi's Der Areopag und die Epheten published in 1874. The Areopagos' importance is not that attributed to it by the majority of modern scholars. Most historians believe that before Solon's reform of the government in 594/3 BC, the Areopagos was a powerful, aristocratic council of state, and that afterward, between 594 and 462, it exercised significant powers by which at times it dominated Athens. In contrast to these perceptions, the author argues that in the period before Ephialtes' reforms the Areopagos was important in Athenian politics perhaps at most twice, in the plans of Solon, and possibly again in the years between 479 and 462.
Walton, J. Michael, Greek Theatre Practice. How did the ancient Greeks actually produce and stage the magnificent plays they wrote? This enduring question has intrigued classical scholars and theatre historians for centuries. In this study, Walton approaches the staging of these famous tragedies from a number of perspectives: from the first acting tradition to the power of masks and stage effects; but primarily as performance texts created for specific festival occasions. J. Michael Walton is Reader in theatre History in the Drama Department at the University of Hull and editor of Methuen's Classical Drama series. he also edited Craig on Theatre for Methuen.
Whiteley, Opal, The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow. Her childhood diary was the literary sensation of 1920, an overnight best seller that, said the New York Times, "gives a picture of life as a whole seen through the eyes of a child, eyes that have been touched....Opal saw life imaginatively, beautifully, lovingly. It is a wonderful book." But within a year, Opal Whiteley's dairy was surrounded by scandal. Skeptics called it a hoax, the press joined the attack. Opal, quite simply, went insane. Benjamin Hoff has brought it back for us with a update on Opal. Quite simply the most delightful book ever written.

Whitman, Cedric, H., Sophocles. Every reader concerned with the problems of literature, of drama, of tragedy, will find in this fresh analysis of the plays of Sophocles a provocative revelation of the heroic world. Why such a world found its best and most courageous articulation in the fifth century B.C. is suggested with profound insight and historical judgement. This dynamic, untraditional picture of Sophocles rescues him from dull respectability, revitalizes his drama, and leads the reader back to the plays themselves, convinced of their integral place in the life and thought of Periclean Athens.

Williams, Henry Smith, LL.D., The Historians' History of the World. In Twenty-Five Volumes, Volume III, Greece, 1904. "The history of Greek civilizations forms the centre of the history of antiquity. In the East, advanced civilizations with settled states had existed for thousands of years; and as the populations of Western Asia and of Egypt gradually came into closer political relations, these civilizations, in spite of all local differences in customs, religions, and habits of thought, gradually grew together into a uniform sphere of culture. This development reached its culmination in the rise of the great Persian universal monarchy, the "kingdom of the lands," i.e. "of the world."
Williamson, Margaret, Sappho's Immortal Daughters. She lived on the island of Lesbos around 600 BC. She composed lyric poetry, only fragments of which survive. And she was--and is--the most highly regarded woman poet of Greek and Roman Antiquity. No more than this can be said with certainty about Sappho, and yet a great deal more is said. her life, so little known, is the stuff of legends; her poetry, the source of endless speculation. This book is a search for Sappho through the poetry she wrote, the culture she inhabited, and the myths that have risen around her. It is an expert and thoroughly engaging introduction to one of the most enduring and enigmatic figure of antiquity.
Winkler, John J., and Froma I. Zeitlin, ed., Nothing to Do with Dionysos? Athenian Drama in Its Social Context. "The more we learn about the original production of tragedies and comedies in Athens the more it seems wrong even to call them plays in the modern sense of the word," write the editors in this collection of critically diverse and innovative essays aimed at restoring the social context of ancient Greek drama. Theatrical productions, which included music and dancing, were civic events in honor of the god Dionysos and were attended by a politically stratified community, whose delegates handled all details from the seating arrangements to the qualifications of choral competitors.

Wiseman, James, The Land of the Ancient Corinthians. This book is concerned with the land of the ancient Corinthians, but not in a geological or purely geographical sense. It is a study in historical and prehistoric topography, including descriptions and discussions of all physical evidence for human activity in the Corinthia, with a few exceptions, from earliest times until the end of antiquity. The exceptions include the evidence from the city of Corinth itself, Kenchreae, the Sanctuaries of Hera on Perachora, and the Isthmian Sanctuary of Poseidon. These are four large sites where there has been extensive archaeological excavation, and for which detailed report are either already available or in the process of composition.

 

Wood, Michael, In Search of the Trojan War. In this book, which is based on the BBC TV series, Michael Wood has made a wide-ranging study of the complex archaeological, literary and historical records which make up the background to the tale of Troy. He has visited all the key sites and his researches have led him to some original speculations, in particular on the part played in the story by the powerful but mysterious Hittite empire. he also comes to a new conclusion about the identity of the legendary city itself, the city which he believes was Homer's Troy. The result is a superbly illustrated book containing not only the latest conclusions of scholars and archaeologists, but also a detailed survey of the quest for the lost site of Troy. The companion DVD is listed here.

Woodhead, A. Geoffrey, The Study of Greek Inscriptions. "Always briefly but to the point, The Study of Greek Inscriptions first discusses the general significance of epigraphy today, and the methods whereby the results of epigraphical research are presented to the public; then the formal problems of inscriptions--alphabet, engraving, and types of documents; then problems of dating, restoration, copies and facsimiles. Finally come some comments on the aesthetic character of inscriptions, a survey of epigraphical publications, a collection of miscellaneous information about the ancient numbering system, calendar and other matters. All this is illustrated by simple, well-chosen texts and photographs.