A landmark anthology of the masterpieces of Greek drama, featuring all-new, highly accessible translations of some of the world’s most beloved plays, including Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound, Bacchae, Electra, Medea, Antigone, and Oedipus the King Featuring translations by Emily Wilson, Frank Nisetich, Sarah Ruden, Rachel Kitzinger, Mary Lefkowitz, and James Romm The great plays of Ancient Greece are among the most enduring and important legacies of the Western world. Not only is the influence of Greek drama palpable in everything from Shakespeare to modern television, the insights contained in Greek tragedy have shaped our perceptions of the nature of human life. Poets, philosophers, and politicians have long borrowed and adapted the ideas and language of Greek drama to help them make sense of their own times. This exciting curated anthology features a cross section of the most popular—and most widely taught—plays in the Greek canon. Fresh translations into contemporary English breathe new life into the texts while capturing, as faithfully as possible, their original meaning. This outstanding collection also offers short biographies of the playwrights, enlightening and clarifying introductions to the plays, and helpful annotations at the bottom of each page. Appendices by prominent classicists on such topics as “Greek Drama and Politics,” “The Theater of Dionysus,” and “Plato and Aristotle on Tragedy” give the reader a rich contextual background. A detailed time line of the dramas, as well as a list of adaptations of Greek drama to literature, stage, and film from the time of Seneca to the present, helps chart the history of Greek tragedy and illustrate its influence on our culture from the Roman Empire to the present day. With a veritable who’s who of today’s most renowned and distinguished classical translators, The Greek Plays is certain to be the definitive text for years to come. Praise for The Greek Plays “Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm deftly have gathered strong new translations from Frank Nisetich, Sarah Ruden, Rachel Kitzinger, Emily Wilson, as well as from Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm themselves. There is a freshness and pungency in these new translations that should last a long time. I admire also the introductions to the plays and the biographies and annotations provided. Closing essays by five distinguished classicists—the brilliant Daniel Mendelsohn and the equally skilled David Rosenbloom, Joshua Billings, Mary-Kay Gamel, and Gregory Hays—all enlightened me. This seems to me a helpful light into our gathering darkness.”—Harold Bloom
Reviews with the most likes.
Format read: paperback
Reading time: ? (a lot)
Tags: theatre, tragedy, comedy, ancient Greece, classical literature, mythology
Own a copy: yes
Reread likelihood: 10/10
Aeschylus' The Oresteia (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, & Eumenides)
I read this version of the trilogy with the idea of teaching it in university, which went surprisingly well. The plays have several important themes at their core such as family feuds, generational curses, women's place in society, violence against women, madness, justice and the birth of the judicial system, and religious zealotry, to name a few.
My favourite play of the three is the last one, Eumenides, as the ancient gods are brought to life and made to participate in the very first instance of a murder trial by jury. It's fascinating to have Apollo and Athena's ‘voices' (though I don't necessarily agree with their arguments!) as the primary speakers in the play. Even though the trilogy is very much concerned with the human, the last play reveals that, ultimately, the gods are still the ones who pull the strings behind the scenes (at least, within the context of ancient Greece).
This translation was very clear and easy to follow, but the musicality/poetry was lost most of the time. Also, there were some instances where the translator made use of much too modern language or phrases to convey an idea, which broke the immersion of the text.
Aeschylus gets 5 stars, the translation gets 4.
