I fear the Greeks even when they bear gifts, said the Trojan priest Laocoön shortly before being attacked by giant sea-snakes. But luckily the rest of us don't seem to share his suspicions. Simon Armitage's new play about the first great literary war, The Last Days of Troy, opens at the Manchester Royal Exchange on 8 May. It focuses on the three sides at war (ostensibly) over Helen: the Greeks, the Trojans and, of course, the gods.
But if you prefer your epic cycle to centre on Thebes rather than Troy, you're also in luck: a new opera, Thebans (based on the Theban plays of Sophocles) has just opened at the English National Opera. If you'd rather go for ancient playwrights themselves, Euripides's Medea plays at the National Theatre this summer, and Sophocles's Electra at the Old Vic this autumn. There have been few better times to be a fan of Greek drama.
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