This anthology presents annotated scripts of four of the most successful burlesques by key Victorian playwrights: Melodrama Mad! Or, the Siege of Troy by Thomas John Dibdin (1819) Telemachus; or, the Island of Calypsoby J. R. Planche (1834) The Iliad; or, The Siege of Troy by Robert Brough (1858) Ulysses; or the Ironclad Warriors and the Little Tug of War by F. C. Burnand (1865) The Giant Horse; or, Siege of Troy (1833, abridged) As well as being persistent subjects of archaeological debate and educational curricula, Homer's epic accounts of the Trojan War and its aftermath were vividly reimagined in 19th-century Britain. The exceptionally successful form of theatrical entertainment, the Classical burlesque, continually returned to the Iliad and Odyssey for crowd-pleasing story-lines. The burlesques combined song, dance and slapstick comedy with circus feats, while notoriously incorporating comically eclectic topical allusions, from namedropping boxing legends to rewriting entire Shakespearean scenes. This selection showcases the genre's development across a range of venues for new - and sometimes surprising - audiences, revealing an irreverent, playful strand to the afterlife of Homeric epic. Running notes illuminate the variety of comic references integral to the plays, while the introduction sets them in their historical and cultural contexts.