Electra

Product Description

Of all the ancient Greek tragedians Euripides was the most sensitive to the lives of women & other outcasts in Athenian society & Electra & Other Plays" collects five plays demonstrating his talent for bringing to life their plight. This " Penguin Classics" edition is translated by John Davie with an introduction & notes by Richard Rutherford. Written during a period overshadowed by the fierce struggle for supremacy between Sparta & Euripides native Athens these five plays are haunted by the shadow of war
- & in particular its impact on women. In " Electra" the children of Agamemnon take bloody revenge on their mother for murdering their father after his return from Troy & " Suppliant Women" depicts the grieving mothers of those killed in battle. The other plays deal with the aftermath of the Trojan War for the defeated survivors as Andromache shows Hectors widow as a trophy of war in the house of her Greek captor & Hecabe portrays a defeated queen avenging the murder of her last-remaining son while " Trojan Women" tells of the plight of the citys women in the hands of their victors. John Davies compelling translations are accompanied by an introduction by Richard Rutherford describing the tragic genre & Euripides innovations along with a chronology prefaces to each play notes a bibliography & a glossary of names. Euripides (c.485-07 BC) was an Athenian born into a family of considerable rank. Disdaining the public duties expected of him Euripides spent a life of quiet introspection spending much of his life in a cave on Salamis. Late in life he voluntarily exiled himself to the court of Archelaus King of Macedon where he wrote " The Bacchae" regarded by many as his greatest work. Euripides is thought to have written 92 plays only 18 of which survive. If you enjoyed " Electra & Other Plays" you might like Euripides " Medea & Other Plays" also available in " Penguin Classics". " The most intensely tragic of all the poets". (Aristotle)."