Introductions And Translations To The Plays Of Sophocles And Euripides

The two volumes of essays and translations of the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides are the accumulation of some twelve years’ of producing ancient plays for contemporary audiences and actors. The play-texts themselves, therefore, are intended to be accessible and speakable, in the first instance, and to convey as much of the flavour of the original Greek as any translation is able. They are there to be used. The style, though personal to a degree, is an attempt to maintain the tone and the poetry of tragedy, without dropping into the mock-archaic or turning the texts into self-conscious homilies on contemporary ‘issues.’ The introductory essays are occasional pieces written with production in mind. Two general themes have emerged: firstly, a development of ideas about the nature of the dramatic genre (and dramatic writing) and stage rhetoric – how is irony achieved? What kinds of irony are there? How do we understand emotional experience in a theatre? Secondly, the significance of emotions and the concept of tragedy in the Greek context; Sophocles and Euripides share, as one might expect, a milieu and some rigid theatrical conventions, but within this context they reveal significant differences in terms of dramatic style and audience orientation. The translations and essays are not presented in the order that they were written. Volume I follows the narrative order of Sophocles’ ‘Theban Trilogy’, and Volume II the chronological order of Euripides’ composition. The plays were all produced in Dunedin, New Zealand, in the following order: Oedipus the King 1994 (and 2003); Hippolytus 1995; Bacchae 1997; Antigone 1998; Oedipus at Colonus 2000; Medea 2002; Hecuba 2006.

The two volumes of essays and translations of the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides are the accumulation of some twelve years’ of producing ancient plays for contemporary audiences and actors. The play-texts themselves, therefore, are intended to be accessible and speakable, in the first instance, and to convey as much of the flavour of the original Greek as any translation is able. They are there to be used. The style, though personal to a degree, is an attempt to maintain the tone and the poetry of tragedy, without dropping into the mock-archaic or turning the texts into self-conscious homilies on contemporary ‘issues.’ The introductory essays are occasional pieces written with production in mind. Two general themes have emerged: firstly, a development of ideas about the nature of the dramatic genre (and dramatic writing) and stage rhetoric – how is irony achieved? What kinds of irony are there? How do we understand emotional experience in a theatre? Secondly, the significance of emotions and the concept of tragedy in the Greek context; Sophocles and Euripides share, as one might expect, a milieu and some rigid theatrical conventions, but within this context they reveal significant differences in terms of dramatic style and audience orientation. The translations and essays are not presented in the order that they were written. Volume I follows the narrative order of Sophocles’ ‘Theban Trilogy’, and Volume II the chronological order of Euripides’ composition. The plays were all produced in Dunedin, New Zealand, in the following order: Oedipus the King 1994 (and 2003); Hippolytus 1995; Bacchae 1997; Antigone 1998; Oedipus at Colonus 2000; Medea 2002; Hecuba 2006.

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. The volume brings together four major works by one of the greatest classical dramarists: Electra, translated by Anne Carson and Michael Shaw, a gripping story of revenge, manipulation, and the often tense conflict of the human spirit; Aias, translated by Herbert Golder and Richard Pevear, an account of the heroic suicide of the Trojan war hero better known as Ajax; Philoctetes, translated by Carl Phillips and Diskin Clay, a morally complex and penetrating play about the conflict between personal integrity and public duty; and The Women of Trachis, translated by C.K. Williams and Gregory W. Dickerson, an urgent tale of mutability in a universe of precipitous change. These four tragedies were originally available as single volumes. This new volume retains the informative introductions and explanatory notes of the original editions and adds a single combined glossary and Greek line numbers.

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.

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

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can best re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. The tragedies collected here were originally available as single volumes. This new collection retains the informative introductions and explanatory notes of the original editions, with Greek line numbers and a single combined glossary added for easy reference. This volume collects Euripides' Andromache, a play that challenges the concept of tragic character and transforms expectations of tragic structure; Hecuba, a powerful story of the unjustifiable sacrifice of Hecuba's daughter and the consequent destruction of Hecuba's character; Trojan Women, a particularly intense account of human suffering and uncertainty; and Rhesos, the story of a futile quest for knowledge.

This anthology collects some of the most important plays by Ancient Greek tragedians, in updated translations with new introductions. Greek Tragedies, Volume III presents some of the finest and most fundamental works of Western dramatic literature. It draws together plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides from Chicago’s acclaimed nine-volume series, Complete Greek Tragedies. This third edition updates the translations to bring them even closer to the ancient Greek while retaining the vibrancy for which they are famous. New introductions for each play provide essential information about the production histories and the stories themselves. This volume contains Aeschylus’s “The Eumenides,” translated by Richmond Lattimore; Sophocles’s “Philoctetes,” translated by David Grene; Sophocles’s “Oedipus at Colonus,” translated by Robert Fitzgerald; Euripides’s “The Bacchae,” translated by William Arrowsmith; and Euripides’s “Alecestis,” translated by Richmond Lattimore.