The Greek Plays of Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O'Neill was an admirer of the Greek classics; he had read Aristotle and the tragic poets, and aimed to follow the classical model in his drama. The Greek elements in his theater are a conscious borrowing of the themes or the plots of ancient tragedies artistically adapted to his contemporary American reality and express his desire to revive the classical notion of tragedy through plays that amalgamed characters and situations from the Greek myths. His indebtedness to Greek drama is thematic and technical, as he was apparently attracted to the trilogy technique and the chorus device, which he employed in a traditional or individualized manner. O'Neill's fascination with the remote and the antique, along with the influence of admired authors and foreign cultures naturally led him to draw material from Greek mythology and drama in aid of the creative process that, guided by his dramatic genius, produced works which gave universal dimensions to private realities and fantasies. The present study is an attempt to discuss O'Neill's plays, which are indubitably inspired from Greek mythology and drama. It is divided into five chapters that examine the playwright's "Greek" background and the ways by which myth, legend, and drama fit in his personal quest and were ultimately manifested into compositions which hold a unique place in American as well as in world theatre. - Preface.