Sometimes accused of privileging controversy over scholarly restraint, the philologist John William Donaldson (1811–1861) was a precocious talent. Only twenty-five when this book was first published in 1836, he was already a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and would live to see his book appear in numerous editions. Revisiting the subject of a successful book published a decade earlier by P. W. Buckham (died 1829), a fellow of St. John's College, Donaldson's colourful new approach proved popular with readers. The appeal of his writing endures, and few can resist his invitation to 'strip our thoughts of their modern garb' and escape into a world of dramatic comedy and tragedy. From the historical account of Thespis, the forefather of Western acting, to an engaging analysis of Euripides and Sophocles, this introduction retains all of the appeal that made it a standard text on the Victorian student's bookshelf.