The Oresteia Trilogy: Agamemnon, the Libation-Bearers and the Furies

By Aeschylus and K. Ch Myrs

Book Overview

Perhaps the greatest of the Greek tragedians, Aeschylus wrote 90 plays, but only seven have survived complete. Among them is this classic trilogy dealing with the bloody history of the House of Atreus. In Agamemnon, the warrior who defeated Troy returns to Argos and is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia before the start of the Trojan War. In The Libation-Bearers, Orestes, Agamemnon's son, avenges his father by murdering his mother. In The Furies, Orestes flees to Delphi, pursued by the divine avengers (Erinyes) of his mother. After being purified by Apollo, he makes his way to Athens and is there tried (and acquitted) at the court of Areopagus. Written in a grand style, rich in diction and dramatic dialogue, the plays embody Aeschylus' concerns with the destiny and fate of individuals as well as the state, all played out under the watchful eye of the gods. Still powerful and provocative after 2,500 years, these great tragedies offer unparalleled insight into the world of ancient Greece and the origins of the Western dramatic tradition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486292428
• ISBN13: 9780486292427
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

I love this Orestia!

Again, I compared many different Orestia's and fell in love with this one on Hackett by Meineick. It reads beautifully and easily and the drama and intensity is unmatched. You also get a believable sense of the characters, and the setting in this one. It is in my opinion the best modern version that can be most easily performable with no archai-sisms in the language. I always go with Hackett now that I've found some really excellent translations! Highly recommended.

An Interpretation, Not a Translation

No, the translation is not literal. If you want a literal translation, buy something written by a professor of Greek. Hughes has a different goal. He¡¦s a poet who wants to interpret this ancient literature into an idiom that modern audiences can understand and appreciate. I wouldn¡¦t even call this a translation. Let¡¦s call it an interpretation and skip over the problem of accuracy. That being said, his interpretation is extremely good. The free verse is both powerful and extremely readable. By putting these stories into a more familiar medium, Hughes recaptures the horror of these plays. By modern standards, the latter plays (Choephori and Eumenides) aren¡¦t very dramatic. The main point is to watch the cycle of revenge play out to a conclusion. But the first play in the trilogy (Agamemnon) is close enough to modern taste to have a huge impact. I was very moved.

Orestes for the modern world

As a professor teaching classics in Regents College Master of Liberal Studies Program, I am always looking for translations that will entrance my students and give them that sensation of the marvelous that many of them can find only in videos and MTV. Hughes' translation of "The Oresteia" is a perfect choice. Sure, there may be in some passages a lot more of Hughes than of Aeschylus, but if that's what it takes to reincarnate those ancient and bloody tragic figures, it's a price well worth paying. After reading this book, I think my students will see "The Sopranos" as just another soap opera.