Aeschylus
Paperback | Pages: 335 pages Rating: 4.02 | 34599 Users | 1140 Reviews
Describe Out Of Books The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Oresteia #1-3)
| Title | : | The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Oresteia #1-3) |
| Author | : | Aeschylus |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 335 pages |
| Published | : | February 7th 1984 by Penguin Classics (first published -458) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Plays. Drama. Fiction. Fantasy. Mythology. Poetry. Theatre |
Narrative Conducive To Books The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Oresteia #1-3)
Alternate cover edition can be found here, here, here, hereIn the Oresteia—the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity—Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos.
Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration.
Details Books In Favor Of The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Oresteia #1-3)
| Original Title: | Ὀρέστεια |
| ISBN: | 0140443339 (ISBN13: 9780140443332) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Oresteia #1-3 |
| Characters: | Orestes, Io . . ., Electra, Clytemnestra (wife of Agamemnon), Elektra, Cassandra, Agamemnon |
| Setting: | Greece Argos(Greece) |
| Literary Awards: | National Book Award Finalist for Translation (1977) |
Rating Out Of Books The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Oresteia #1-3)
Ratings: 4.02 From 34599 Users | 1140 ReviewsCriticize Out Of Books The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Oresteia #1-3)
I can only vouch for this Robert Fagles' translation, but yes, astonishingly gripping after more than 2,400 years.The penguin classics version is to be particularly recommended - The translation works very well and the 90 page introduction is just brilliant. As for the plays, well...they are essential reading obviously. And like all great works in translation, one should really read 2 or 3 different versions in order to get as close as possible to the original. The Fagles translation should certainly be one of those versions.
1st Part. Agamémnon"Agamemnon" is based on the victorious return of the hero to Argos after winning the Trojan War and avenged the honor of his brother Menelaus, husband of Helen, who had fled to Paris. The wife of Agamemnon, Climnestra, in turn, also betrays him, and architect husband's murder with her lover.2nd Part. CoephoriIn "Choephori" Orestes and Electra, children of Agamemnon, avenges his death by killing his mother and her lover. The Climnestra's anger is materialized in the Furies.3rd
Aeschylus' prose certainly deserves five stars, so dense and moving. Even though his primary focus in Oresteia was ethics, justice, crime/punishment, and changes in social order, the subjective emotions and psychologies of characters are conveyed powerfully. Orestes is not really "heroic" in a Homeric sense, but he presents a less egoistic and more god-fearing type of man in a tormenting pursuit of righteousness. The Oresteia combines both tragic and comic elements, and presents both optimism
Let good prevail ! So be it ! Yet what is good ? And who is God? As many deeply conservative societies have discovered time and time again - societies in which there is only one right order and this order is warranted by the highest authorities recognized by the society - when change comes, and come it always must,(*) not only do those in power tumble, but the authority of the gods/priests, ancestors, laws, whatever the highest authorities happen to be in that society, comes into question.
....Just passed the Libation Bearers. Aeschylus has a way with ironic, monumental dialogues which portend tremendous climaxes. The language is so deep and seeps into the interaction- apparantly he suggests that there are no good options in life, merely the best of the worst, and that one must take their place amid the roil. Wisdom. This resonates with me, in the way that a drama read on the page will, as I imagine the perfect language and staging to bear witness to it....bigger review to follow,
ForewordAcknowledgementsA Reading of 'The Oresteia': The Serpent and the Eagle--Agamemnon--The Libation Bearers--The EumenidesThe Genealogy of OrestesSelect BibliographyNotesGlossary
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.