Druid Magazine

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.

Aeschylus's ancient Greek dramatic trilogy--the tragedies Agamemnon, Choephoroe, and Eumenides--chronicles the murder of Agamemnon by his wife in revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter Iphgeneia, Clytemnestra's killing by her son Orestes, and Orestes's resulting trial and acquittal.

The Oresteian trilogy (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides) established the themes of Greek tragedy - the inexorable nature of Fate, the relationship between justice, revenge, and religion. The plays dramatize the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, the revenge of her son Orestes, and his judgement by the court of Athens. This new translation seeks to preserve the plays' qualities as theatre and as literature.

This is the only general introduction in English to Aeschylus' Oresteia, one of the most important and most influential of all Greek dramas. Simon Goldhill focuses on the play's themes of justice, sexual politics, violence, and the position of man within culture, and explores how Aeschylus constructs a myth for the city in which he lived. A final chapter considers the influence of the Oresteia on later theatre. Its clear structure and guide to further reading will make this an invaluable guide for students and teachers alike.

A Bold, Iconoclastic New Look at One of the Great Works of Greek Tragedy In this innovative rendition of The Oresteia, the poet, translator, and essayist Anne Carson combines three different visions—Aischylos' Agamemnon, Sophokles' Elektra, and Euripides' Orestes—giving birth to a wholly new experience of the classic Greek triumvirate of vengeance. After the murder of her daughter Iphegenia by her husband Agamemnon, Klytaimestra exacts a mother's revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytaimestra's actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father's death with the help of his sister Elektra. In the end, Orestes, driven mad by the Furies for his bloody betrayal of family, and Elektra are condemned to death by the people of Argos, and must justify their actions—signaling a call to change in society, a shift from the capricious governing of the gods to the rule of manmade law. Carson's accomplished rendering combines elements of contemporary vernacular with the traditional structures and rhetoric of Greek tragedy, opening up the plays to a modern audience. In addition to its accessibility, the wit and dazzling morbidity of her prose sheds new light on the saga for scholars. Anne Carson's Oresteia is a watershed translation, a death-dance of vengeance and passion not to be missed.

In the Oresteia Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. As they move 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. In Agamemnon, a king's decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution; The Libation Bearers deals with the aftermath of Clytemnestra's regicide, as her son Orestes sets out to avenge his father's death; and in The Eumenides, Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, The Oresteia is a compelling tragedy of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society. The only trilogy in Greek drama that survives from antiquity, Aeschylus' The Oresteia is translated by Robert Fagles with an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W.B. Stanford in Penguin Classics. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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