Chicago university sophocles greek tragedies review năm 2024

Sophocles I contains the plays “Antigone,” translated by Elizabeth Wyckoff; “Oedipus the King,” translated by David Grene; and “Oedipus at Colonus,” translated by Robert Fitzgerald.

Sixty years ago, the University of Chicago Press undertook a momentous project: a new translation of the Greek tragedies that would be the ultimate resource for teachers, students, and readers. They succeeded. Under the expert management of eminent classicists David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, those translations combined accuracy, poetic immediacy, and clarity of presentation to render the surviving masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in an English so lively and compelling that they remain the standard translations. Today, Chicago is taking pains to ensure that our Greek tragedies remain the leading English-language versions throughout the twenty-first century.

In this highly anticipated third edition, Mark Griffith and Glenn W. Most have carefully updated the translations to bring them even closer to the ancient Greek while retaining the vibrancy for which our English versions are famous. This edition also includes brand-new translations of Euripides’ Medea, The Children of Heracles, Andromache, and Iphigenia among the Taurians, fragments of lost plays by Aeschylus, and the surviving portion of Sophocles’s satyr-drama The Trackers. New introductions for each play offer essential information about its first production, plot, and reception in antiquity and beyond. In addition, each volume includes an introduction to the life and work of its tragedian, as well as notes addressing textual uncertainties and a glossary of names and places mentioned in the plays.

In addition to the new content, the volumes have been reorganized both within and between volumes to reflect the most up-to-date scholarship on the order in which the plays were originally written. The result is a set of handsome paperbacks destined to introduce new generations of readers to these foundational works of Western drama, art, and life.

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Even in translation, one gets the sense of Aeschylus' taking language as far as it can go, and it a number of instances, too far. But of the three Greek tragedians he is by far the most interesting to me.

The Chicago University Press translations are the ones I keep coming back to. They were the first I read and I associate them most closely with the plays. It’s deeply frustrating that they do not provide more context on the language and culture. These wonderful plays deserve a deeper analysis and understanding. Fortunately, there is James C. Hogan’s excellent companion piece called A Commentary on the Complete Greek Tragedies: Aeschylus. I highly recommend having this at your side, especially when reading the Oresteia and Prometheus Bound.

Aeschylus’ fame rests on his wonderful Oresteia trilogy and revolutionary Prometheus Bound. The rest are minor pieces, without the dramatic depth or breadth of these two. Interestingly, he’s very interested in the aftermath of war.

This is one of my favorite authors and books. I highly recommend it.

The Oresteia ***** – One of the most striking things about The Oresteia is its dense imagery. The trilogy, presented on a bare stage with a strictly limited number of speakers, focuses on several key images and words that interact throughout the three parts. Imagery related to nets, houses, birds/animals, illness/healing, stains/cleaning, torches, sleeping/dreaming and sailing appear throughout. It is truly minimalist.

The Lattimore translation has many memorable lines and phrases including:

“I tell you he is alive and killing the dead.” (The Libation Bearers 887)** (Apparently that can also be read in the original Greek as “The dead is killing the living.”) “Pain flowers for him.” (The Libation Bearers 1009) “Let go / upon this man the stormblasts of our bloodshot breath.” (Eumenides 137) “Caught inside / the hard wrestle of water.” (Eumenides 557)

I don’t have anything to add to the thousands of years of criticism. This is a remarkable play that I’ve returned to many times throughout my life, and I’m sure I’ll return again. The Lattimore translation, as noted above, contains many gems, though I’m baffled by the odd line breaks. Is that in the original? Is he following Aeschylus line for line? Or is that Lattimore's attempt to mimic modern (i.e., 1950s) poetry? I didn't like it. (10/13)

The Suppliant Maids *** – This play appears to lay the groundwork for the succeeding two parts of the trilogy. There are a few interesting lines, but other than that there isn’t a whole lot of drama or conflict. It is mostly building up to the climactic moments that are now lost. (05/18)

The Persians *** – This is not a very compelling play to read. It is a long lament by the Persians who had lost a war to the Athenians. In performance, with music and staging, it may have been a more compelling piece, but on the page it is rather anticlimatic. (02/11)

Seven Against Thebes *** – This is a bit more compelling than Aeschylus’ other minor plays. The ending is a bit marred and there isn’t much action (even by Greek standards), but otherwise I found the language and situation interesting. Of the three minor plays, this one deserves a re-reading.

Prometheus Bound ***** – Greek mythology is full of men struggling against gods. And losing. In Prometheus Bound, Prometheus, a fellow god, vies with a tyrannical Zeus for the benefit of mankind -- and for his trouble he’s nailed to a rock.

Aeschylus presents Zeus as a tyrant -- attempting to destroy mankind, raping Io and leaving her to Juno’s harsh fate, nailing Prometheus to a rock for defending mankind, suppressing dissent, and intimidating foes. As the preface to the Oxford edition notes, Zeus “foreshadows the methods of twentieth century totalitarianism” inflicting “’isolation, deprivation of sleep, intimidation, endlessly repeated accusations of lying, maintenance of very painful postures,’” etc. (p. 12) (After 2001, we in the U.S. can’t say these are exclusively the tools of totalitarians.)

But Prometheus has one trump card he knows how Zeus’s reign might end which even Zeus doesn’t know. The death of a god the rise of a new day free from tyranny are promised. Such thoughts agitated the pens of Romantics like Shelley and Byron. But as the Oxford preface notes, that’s probably not the direction Aeschylus took in the remainder of the trilogy. This is but part one, and evidence points to a conciliation between Prometheus and Zeus at the end. Zeus remains supreme.

By itself though, Prometheus Unbound is a romantic struggle against the seemingly omnipotent god in which the underdog, the downtrodden, the victim might actually taste victory. It’s a stirring work. It’s not surprising this part of the play survived. (01/15)

favorites

350 reviews4 followers

November 20, 2017

The Classical Greeks placed a very high value on drama. A dramatic competition was included in the Olympic Games - in stark contrast to the purely physical contests included in the modern Olympics - and Aristotle set himself the task (in the Poetics) of analyzing what made successful drama. Still, only about 50 Greek tragedies have survived the nearly 2,500 years that have elapsed since the heyday of the Greeks.

This volume contains all surviving surviving plays by Aeschylus. A couple of the entries ring hollow to modern ears (or at least to my modern ears). The dramatic scenario of The Suppliant Maidens, concerning 40 young women who flee from Egypt to avoid being forced to marry their cousins, is far enough from modern concerns that it comes off flat. This play also isn't helped by the fact that it was the first play of a three-play trilogy, the remaining two of which have been lost. As a result, we can't see the full development of the drama. Similarly, Seven Against Thebes consists largely of descriptions of the armor and heraldry of the participants. While the ancients no doubt were familiar with this type of material, and considered it dramatic and entertaining, it does not possess the same interest for modern readers.

The remaining five plays, however, retain their power even 2,500 years after they were written. The Persians is notable as the only surviving Greek tragedy that dealt with then-current events rather than mythological characters and stories. (The play is set at the Persian Emperor's court in the immediate aftermath of Greece's great naval victory at Salamis, which saved Greece from Persian overlordship.) The play treats the Persians as defeated heroes on a par with the mythological Trojans, or Greece's own heroes. This empathetic portrayal of Greece's mortal enemy, written not long after Greece's desperate battles against the invading Persians, is truly stunning.

Prometheus Bound is based on the legend of Prometheus, the Titan who took pity on mankind and gave them the secret of fire (i.e. science and technology), and was punished by Zeus for this act of charity by being chained to a rock and tormented by a giant bird which tore out and ate his liver, only to return the next day and repeat the whole agonizing scenario after the liver had grown back. (Titans being immortal, their organs were able to regenerate.) The play is a political allegory, with Zeus standing in for the tyrants and would-be tyrants jostling for power in Athens. In addition to being powerful drama, and non-traditional in that it completely ignores Aristotle's rules for successful drama, this play is noteworthy for the contempt it heaps on Zeus in his role as tyrant. Clearly, Aeschylus did not worship the Olympian gods, and apparently enough of the public had joined him to allow the play to avoid the charge of sacrilege.

The Oresteian Trilogy (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides) is most powerful of all. These plays concern Agamemnon, the mythical king who was appointed to lead the Greek assault on Troy. When the Greeks offended one of the Gods - something which happened all the time in Greek mythology - the Greek fleet was becalmed. Eventually, Agamemnon, as commander, was informed by an oracle that he would have to sacrifice his beloved daughter Iphegenia to appease the God. Faced with this fatal choice, Agamemnon killed Iphegenia, enabling the Greeks to proceed with their attack on Troy and setting the stage for the action of the plays. The trilogy is a cycle of sin, revenge that itself is sinful and leads to still more violence, and ultimate redemption. It is powerful stuff which has fascinated, thrilled, and appalled men and women for over 2,500 years, and much longer than that if one goes back to the original myths.

50 reviews

September 2, 2023

Just finished reading Alcestis and Medea in Euripides 1 as part of a course at the University of Chicago Graham school entitled Women in Euripides. Then we will read about Iphigenia in Aulis. We are also studying theatre/film versions.

In September I will take another classics class on Antigone -- a deep dive. I am enjoying being in the summer Euripides class with my longtime college friend Janet who was also a bridesmaid at my wedding. Also enjoying beginning to fill this gap in my college reading: the Greek classics.

classics

380 reviews7 followers

March 28, 2016

Shout out to all the 'woes'. Gotta' love Aeschylus.

I would say, of the whole lot, I found the 'The Persians' and 'Prometheus' to be the most fascinating, particularly 'Persians'. While the Orestes trilogy was assuredly the most well-written, I just couldn't connect to it as well as the latter two works. All-in-all, not as difficult or dull as I was expecting; the translations are fresh, complex, and enjoyable.

January 9, 2018

Glad to have this under my belt, and intriguing to read first hand the beginnings of drama as we know it. The Agamemnon trilogy did not touch me as much as _Prometheus Bound_. The story of fate and the cleansing of inherited sin may have modern parallels, but they are not concerns I care much about. By contrast _Prometheus Bound_ is the archetype for all future tales of resistance against contemptible rulers and abusers all the way down to Star Wars, and beyond.

August 13, 2007

When I first read the Oresteia, I was underwhelmed. With every rereading, the trilogy has gotten better to the point that I now understand why Aeschylus was re-performed by state legislation. The Agamemnon is terrifying, the Eumenides a spectacular mix of reworked mythology and Athenian propaganda.

read-and-recommended

1,675 reviews

July 2, 2010

my version includes prometheus bound as well (which i do like), but anyway, i had read both the persians and prometheus unbound before so only supplicant maidens and seven against thebes were new to me, and it's quite easy to see why they were relatively forgotten.

2010 classics plays

2,233 reviews10 followers

August 25, 2020

A re-read from high school and college. I love epic stories and plays like the Illiad and the Odyssey. my favorite plays in this are: Odeipus, Prometheis Bound, Aaeggamemnon and Antigone. Very complete collection and glad my library had this to enjoy again.

classics fantasy fave-author

July 27, 2014

Only read Agamemnon. Translation is enjoyable, but requires a lot of effort on the part of the reader.

February 8, 2021

Amazingly deep for Homer "Fan Fiction" (I kid!). Follow the journey of one family from tragedy to tragedy, watching as the cycle of violence and madness continues down the family line.

What is the best Greek tragedy?

10 Must-Read Ancient Greek Tragedies.

Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus. ... .

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. ... .

Antigone by Sophocles. ... .

Electra by Sophocles. ... .

Medea by Euripides. ... .

The Bacchae by Euripides. ... .

Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides. ... .

The Trojan Women by Euripides. Hecuba's Grief by Leonaert Bramer, 1630, via Museo Nacional Del Prado..

Who are the top 3 Greek authors of tragedy?

I have written before about the three major Greek Tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

What is the most famous tragedy of Sophocles?

Of his eight plays (seven full, one fragmented) that remain today, his most famous is Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex), which is known for its impressive construction and use of dramatic devices. Sophocles also is renowned for his use of tragic irony and extended metaphor. Read more about Oedipus the King.

Why is Greek tragedy still studied?

Universal Themes: Ancient Greek plays often delve into universal themes of human nature, morality, power, fate, love, and the complexities of the human experience. These themes transcend time and culture, allowing us to reflect on our own lives and society.