King Agamemnon is long dead and his murderers rule at
Argos. His son Orestes returns from exile to kill them his
own mother Clytemnestra and her seducer Aegisthus. Thus he will
release his sister Electra from oppression and reclaim his home
and kingdom.
This is the only episode from Greek legend treated in surviving
plays by all three of the great Athenian tragedians of the fifth
century B.C. Aeschylus in his Libation-bearers (part
of the Oresteia trilogy), Sophocles and Euripides each
in plays called Electra. Together these plays form a unique
record of development and divergence in the content and style
of tragedy.
In Euripides' hands the story becomes a tragedy of all too human
emotions and illusions. The revenge of Orestes is subsumed by
Electra's hatred and resentment of her mother and the usurper.
The killing of Clytemnestra by her children brings them not joy
and restoration but revulsion, separation and renewed exile. Unwarned
by the gods, they recognise too late the costs to them of executing
Apollo's justice.
M.J. Cropp (Calgary)
256pp. (1988) cl 238 1 £35 / $59.99, pb 239 X £16.50 / $28
|
General Editor's Foreword INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRA General Bibliography for Euripides PARALLEL GREEK TEXT AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION COMMENTARY Index |
SOME COMMENTS
BY REVIEWERS
"the volume is a credit to the series and its
editor ... Cropp has risen well to the challenge." JHS
"an excellent introduction to Electra and to many aspects
of Greek life and thought." Phoenix
RELATED BOOKS
See under EURIPIDES in this series.
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