Plays are written to be performed rather than read, and the classical plays of the past are no exception. Physical factors such as theatrical architecture and stage design are therefore of major importance in the study of dramatic literature. This richly documented book examines two famous plays separated by a span of over 2000 years and performed in two distinctly different types of theatre. The broad, historical perspective of the study is brought into sharp relief by an in-depth analysis of the two plays in question: the Hippolytos of Euripides (428 B.C.) and Racine's Phedre (1677).