Censorship of the English stage goes back in an unbroken line to the office of the Master of the Revels in the sixteenth century, but probably existed in some form or another for as long as there was any dramatic tradition. By 1737 the absolute control of new playtexts for performance was vested in the Lord Chamberlain, whose power in the field was not removed until 1968. This article traces the history of translation of Greek plays in such a context, and the manner in which they were directly or indirectly affected, on the one hand by this formal vetting process, on the other by social and cultural attitudes. Athenian old comedy and the satyr play were especially vulnerable, but it was not until 1912 that any translation of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus was permitted on the London stage. Translations of Greek tragedy and comedy in print, it turns out, were also significantly affected by the moral climate of their translators' times.