My former academic supervisor, Alexander Garvie, who has died aged 90, was a scholar of ancient Greek tragedies with a particular focus on the playwright Aeschylus.
His first book, Aeschylus’ Supplices: Play and Trilogy (1969) is still, more than 50 years later, the definitive study of its topic. But his greatest achievements were two heavyweight commentaries on individual Aeschylean tragedies, the first on The Libation Bearers in 1986 and the second on The Persians in 2009. Classical scholars value a commentary if it either answers their questions or points to resources that will – and with Alex’s commentaries one was rarely disappointed in either direction.
