The Oresteia

Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays can still be read or performed, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. He is often described as the father of tragedy: our knowledge of the genre begins with his work and our understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays. Only seven of his estimated seventy to ninety plays have survived into modern times. Fragments of some other plays have survived in quotes and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian papyrus, often giving us surprising insights into his work.

Wagner and Aeschylus examines the role that the Oresteia played in the shaping of the Ring.

This translation is the result of a close collaboration between theatre director and playwright, Andy Hinds (author of Acting Shakespeares Language), and Classics scholar, Dr. Martine Cuypers (Trinity College Dublin). Whilst preserving a scholarly fidelity to the original Greek, the translation is written in a clear and energetic verse, designed to be as 'performable' in the theatre, as it is readable in the home or study. It will be of equal interest and use, therefore, to teachers, students and academics, to actors and directors, and to the general reader. The Oresteia is released as a companion volume to Hinds translation of Iphigenia in Aulis. Iphigenia represents Euripides version of a key episode in the great saga, The Fall of the House of Atreus, while The Oresteia relates Aeschylus version of the continuation and conclusion of the saga.

Classic trilogy by great tragedian deals with the bloody history of the House of Atreus. Grand in style, rich in diction and dramatic dialogue, the plays embody Aeschylus' concerns with the destiny and fate of both individuals and the state, all played out under the watchful eye of the gods.

The stories are familiar: family disharmony, mourning the loss of a loved one, vengeance, national tyranny, international war, a desire for justice. This new translation by Jeffrey Scott Bernstein, an independent scholar and novelist, preserves the artistry of the original while deploying a clear speech that directly addresses a twenty-first century temperament. The Oresteia, first performed in Greece in 458 bce, has been celebrated as an example of the highest literary art. The murder of King Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, the bloody vengeance their son Orestes wreaks upon his mother, and the appearance of the goddess Athena to sort matters out, tells a foundation narrative of world drama. The trilogy traces a progression from personal blood feud to institutionalised justice, and in doing so celebrates, by the end, the triumph of democracy among the citizenry.

First published in 1938, this book forms the second part of a two-volume edition of the Oresteia. The first volume contains the original Greek text of the Oresteia with a facing-page English translation, notes and a detailed introduction. This second volume is largely composed of a comprehensive textual commentary. A metrical appendix is also provided. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the works of Aeschylus and classical literature.

This spellbinding, groundbreaking translation reenergizes Aeschylus’ enduring saga of split loyalties, bloody sacrifice, and the efforts to bring peace after generations of strife. The most renowned of Aeschylus’ tragedies and one of the foundational texts of Western literature, the Oresteia trilogy is about cycles of deception and brutality within the ruling family of Argos. In Agamemnon, afflicted queen Clytemnestra awaits her husband’s return from war to commit a terrible act of retribution for the murder of her daughter. The next two plays, radically retitled here as The Women at the Graveside and Orestes in Athens, deal with the aftermath of the regicide, Orestes’ search to avenge his father’s death, and the ceaseless torment of the young prince. A powerful discourse on the formation of democracy after a period of violent chaos, The Oresteia has long illuminated the tensions between loyalty to one’s family and to the greater community. Now, Oliver Taplin’s “vivid and accessible translation” (Victoria Mohl) captures the lyricism of the original, in what is sure to be a classic for generations to come.

The only trilogy of tragedy plays to survive from Ancient Greece features the ageless themes of the nature of fate and the relationship between justice, revenge, and religion.

World Literature and Its Times helps students and researchers make connections between political/social climate during which books were written and the works themselves. Each volume focuses on major fiction, poetry and nonfiction from a particular country and region, representing approximately 50 works. The detailed essays are approximately 10 pages in length and offer the following features: Introductory profile -- an overview that discuss genre, time, place and other important elements with a synopsis and introduction that places the work in the context of the authors' life Events in history -- a report on the social, political and cultural climate relevant to the work, including primary source documents, charts, timelines and other illustrative materials Literary work in focus -- three sections that place the work in context with an in-depth summary, related history and historical sources Sources for more information -- full citations offering additional sources of information Additional features include illustrations; maps; author and title tables of contents; sidebars; timelines; advisor information; and an alphabetical index of authors, titles, events and personalities. The series contains eight volumes covering the following literatures: Latin American literature African literature British & Irish literature (2 volumes - The Victorian Era to the Present and Celtic Migrations to the Reform Bill ) Spanish & Portuguese literature Middle Eastern literature Italian literature Classic literature

A re-evaluation of the Orestes as a curious mélange of early and late Euripidean features. Combines a thorough critique of recent criticism on the play with detailed analysis of the work's more troubling scenes.

How does the way in which a democratic polity mourn its losses shape its political outcomes? How might it shape those outcomes? American Mourning: Tragedy, Democracy, Resilience answers these questions with a critical study of American public mourning. Employing mourning as a lens through which to view the shortcomings of American democracy, it offers an argument for a tragic, complex, and critical mode of mourning that it contrasts with the nationalist, romantic, and nostalgic responses to loss that currently dominate and damage the polity. Offering new readings of key texts in Ancient political thought and American political history, it engages debates central to contemporary democratic theory concerned with agonism, acknowledgment, hope, humanism, patriotism, and political resilience. The book outlines new ways of thinking about and responding to terrorism, racial conflict, and the problems of democratic military return.

To probe the literary representation of the alienated mind, Lillian Feder examines mad protagonists of literature and the work of writers for whom madness is a vehicle of self-revelation. Ranging from ancient Greek myth and tragedy to contemporary poetry, fiction, and drama, Professor Feder shows how literary interpretations of madness, as well as madness itself, reflect the very cultural assumptions, values, and prohibitions they challenge.