Een familie, acht tragedies: bevat: Het verhaal van Orestes (Agamemnon, Dodenoffer, Goede geesten) . Elektra . Ifigeneia in Aulis, Elektra, Orestes . Ifigeneia op de Krim

by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides

Bundeling van acht Griekse tragedies over de familie van Agamemnon.

Genres: Fiction

590 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Greek Αισχύλος , Esquilo in Spanish, Eschyle in French, Èsquil in Catalan, Eschilo in Italian, Эсхил in Russian.

Aeschylus (c. 525/524 BC – c. 456 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.
Only seven of Aeschylus's estimated 70 to 90 plays have survived. There is a long-standing debate regarding the authorship of one of them, Prometheus Bound, with some scholars arguing that it may be the work of his son Euphorion. Fragments from other plays have survived in quotations, and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian papyri. These fragments often give further insights into Aeschylus' work. He was likely the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy. His Oresteia is the only extant ancient example. At least one of his plays was influenced by the Persians' second invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). This work, The Persians, is one of very few classical Greek tragedies concerned with contemporary events, and the only one extant. The significance of the war with Persia was so great to Aeschylus and the Greeks that his epitaph commemorates his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon while making no mention of his success as a playwright.

Reviews

[Paul Groos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een genot om deze verzameling van samenhangende tragedies te lezen. Sommige heftig en bloederig (Ifigineia in Aulis, Agamemnon, beide Elektra's), andere meer een spannend avonturenverhaal (Ifigeneia in Aulis) of een soort rechtbankverslag (Goede Geesten). Maar allemaal vol dilemma's, wanhoop, gevaar en versierd met tragische ironie en tragikomische bodeverhalen.
Inleiding, namenlijst en commentaar bieden een stevige meerwaarde, al beperkt het commentaar zich vaak tot het omschrijven van omstreden tekstpassages, iets waar niet elke lezer op zit te wachten. Voor mij als classicus is dat overigens wel interessant. Koolschijn kiest dan meestal voor een tekstvariant met zo min mogelijk aanpassingen en levert geregeld kritiek op commentatoren die de tekst willen aanpassen aan hun begripshypothese in plaats van andersom. Dat levert eigenlijk zelden problemen op in de begrijpelijkheid van de tekst.
Prettig en vlot leesbaar. Een uitstekende kennismaking met de van bloedwraak doortrokken familie van Tantalus. Vijf generaties ellende, waarvan de verhalen niet allemaal in deze tragedies worden verteld, maar waarvan je een mooi beeld krijgt in dit boek.

[Ayla Derammelaere · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains the history of 1 big Greek family. The stories are written by 3 famous Greek writers (as plays) and are bundled in cronological order so you can read the book from start to finish to know the entire story. 1 story (about the murder on the mother) was written by all autors and is written multiple times in the book ; I found it intruiging to see how every one of them interprets the story differently or adds happenings.

The story starts when Agamemnon returns home from the Trojan war and is killed by his wife and her lover. His daugher Elektra, who foresaw problems, had sent her brother Orestes to another town to be cared for so he could return to take revenge on the murder of his father.
As a grown man, Orestes comes back and kills his stepfather and his mother ; he was told by the god Apollo to do so. However, venging your father is an obligation but murdering a blood-reletief is a sin and punished. Orestes needs to travel the world and ends up in Athens, where it comes to a plea before the godess Athena to determine what is worse : not venging the murder of your father or murdering your own mother. After many words, Athena decides a father is more important than a mother since she herself is prove, a mother isn't necessary (she was born out of Zeus' head and never had a mother).

[Evan Pacini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classics. A must read for anyone remotely interested in Greek Mythology.

[Elsbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mooie vertaling; deze klassieke tragedies hebben ons ook nu nog wat te zeggen. De manier waarop dilemma's op de spits worden gedreven in bijvoorbeeld 'Agamemnon', 'Dodenoffer' en 'Elektra' is schitterend.

[Sander Boek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handzame edities van acht klassieke tragedies die allemaal spelen rond de familie van Agamemnon, geschreven door de Grote Drie uit het klassieke Athene. Persoonlijk hoogtepunt: de verstilde wanhoop in 'Agamemnon'.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

We only had to read Elektra by Euripides, but this was fairly enjoyable, though a bit unnerving from time to time.

[Marinda van Dorst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik heb "Ifigeneia op de Krim" gelezen.

[Joost Poort · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schitterende (en gruwelijke) verhalen die dankzij de bijzonder leesbare vertaling weer tot leven komen.