Thirty-three lines in the Ion are devoted to describing the tent in which Ion celebrates his
new-found status as heir to Xouthos and the royal line of Athens. The passage may properly
be called an ἔκφρασις, a description in language of an artistic object constructed in another
medium. An ἔκφρασις in drama differs from those occurring in narrative because material
objects in drama retain the potential to be made material, ie to appear on the stage, thus
dramatically closing the gap between word and world that the ἔκφρασις so patently opens …

I would like to thank Tom Harrison, who invited me to write this book, and Deborah Blake of
Duckworth, who has once again proved herself a model editor. I would like here to
acknowledge also my abiding debts to family, friends, colleagues and students; and to
honour in particular the staff of the Joint Library/Institute of Classical Studies Library, Senate
House, London, who do an excellent job in sometimes difficult circumstances.