An evocative comparison of how two theatrical traditions have conceived of ancient gods as metaphors for the power of playwrights and actors

The gods have much to tell us about performance. When human actors portray deities onstage, such divine epiphanies reveal not only the complexities of mortals playing gods but also the nature of theatrical spectacle itself. The very impossibility of rendering the gods in all their divine splendor in a truly convincing way lies at the intersection of divine power and the power of the theater. This book pursues these dynamics on the stages of ancient Athens and Rome as well on those of Renaissance England to shed new light on theatrical performance. The authors reveal how gods appear onstage both to astound and to dramatize the very machinations by which theatrical performance operates. Offering an array of case studies featuring both canonical and lesser-studied texts, this volume discusses work of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Plautus as well as Beaumont, Heywood, Jonson, Marlowe, and Shakespeare. This book uniquely brings together the joint perspectives of two experts on classical and Renaissance drama. This volume will appeal to students and enthusiasts of literature, classics, theater, and performance studies.

"This work shows great erudition, since in addition to the main sources of study, there are numerous allusions to other classical and neoclassical texts. The fact that it features analysis of both tragedy and comedy is a rarity and therefore one of the volume’s strengths. Ultimately, it offers a dialogue between literature, theatre and performance, anthropology and religion in a pragmatic and reinvigorating way. Undoubtedly, it will be a work of reference for researchers of classical reception, drama performance, divinity and the English Renaissance." - The Classical Review

"Performing Gods offers a provocative argument, with richly rewarding implications for a wide range of plays … [and] does a valuable service in opening a conversation on this important topic." - The Journal of Hellenic Studies