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Electra and Other Plays
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Euripides, wrote Aristotle, ‘is the most intensely tragic of all the poets’. In his questioning attitude to traditional pieties, disconcerting shifts of sympathy, disturbingly eloquent evil characters & acute insight into destructive passion, he's also the most strikingly modern of ancient authors. Written in the period of 426-415, during the fierce struggle for supremacy between Athens & Sparta, these five plays are haunted by the horrors of war & its particular impact on women. Only the Suppliants, with its extended debate on democracy & monarchy, can be seen as a patriotic piece. The Trojan Women is perhaps the greatest of all anti-war dramas; Andromache shows the ferocious clash between the wife & concubine of Achilles’ son Neoptolemos; while Hecabe reveals how hatred can drive a victim to an appalling act of cruelty. Electra develops & parodies Aeschylus’ treatment of the same story, in which the heroine & her brother Orestes commit matricide to avenge their father Agamemnon. As always, Euripides presents the heroic figures of mythology as recognizable, often very fallible, humans.
Euripides, wrote Aristotle, ‘is the most intensely tragic of all the poets’. In his questioning attitude to traditional pieties, disconcerting shifts of sympathy, disturbingly eloquent evil characters & acute insight into destructive passion, he's also the most strikingly modern of ancient authors. Written in the period of 426-415, during the fierce struggle for supremacy between Athens & Sparta, these five plays are haunted by the horrors of war & its particular impact on women. Only the Suppliants, with its extended debate on democracy & monarchy, can be seen as a patriotic piece. The Trojan Women is perhaps the greatest of all anti-war dramas; Andromache shows the ferocious clash between the wife & concubine of Achilles’ son Neoptolemos; while Hecabe reveals how hatred can drive a victim to an appalling act of cruelty. Electra develops & parodies Aeschylus’ treatment of the same story, in which the heroine & her brother Orestes commit matricide to avenge their father Agamemnon. As always, Euripides presents the heroic figures of mythology as recognizable, often very fallible, humans.
224 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Euripides
2,823 books1,972 followersEuripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (ca. 480 BC–406 BC) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him, but the Suda says it was ninety-two at most. Of these, eighteen or nineteen have survived more or less complete (Rhesus is suspect). There are many fragments (some substantial) of most of his other plays. More of his plays have survived intact than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because his popularity grew as theirs declined—he became, in the Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education, along with Homer, Demosthenes, and Menander.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.
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March 24, 2017
General Introduction & Notes
Note on the Text & Further Reading
Chronological Table
Translator's Note
Preface to Andromache
--Andromache
Preface to Hecabe
--Hecabe
Preface to Suppliant Women
--Suppliant Women
Preface to Electra
--Electra
Preface to Trojan Women
--Trojan Women
Notes
Bibliography
Glossary of Mythological and Geographical Names
Note on the Text & Further Reading
Chronological Table
Translator's Note
Preface to Andromache
--Andromache
Preface to Hecabe
--Hecabe
Preface to Suppliant Women
--Suppliant Women
Preface to Electra
--Electra
Preface to Trojan Women
--Trojan Women
Notes
Bibliography
Glossary of Mythological and Geographical Names
March 6, 2021
3.5**** rounded up
RTC
RTC
September 16, 2023
I have immersed myself in Ancient Greece this month in anticipation of Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad coming out 09/26/2013.
These plays are set after the battle of Troy has ended and in all of them, Andromache (Hector’s widow,) Hecabe (widowed Queen of Troy, mother of Hector and Paris,) Suppliant Women, Electra (daughter of Agamemon and Clytemnestra, sister of Iphigenia,) and Trojan Women Euripides shows the terrible toll war takes on women. All of these women, named relatives of famous men and nameless servants, are grieving for fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers as they face unknown futures torn from the family and home.
I found them all moving and effecting, especially Trojan Women in which the women of Troy are gathered on the shore, awaiting selection by the Greek victors before the women have to say goodbye to their mothers, sisters, and daughters to board Greek ships as spoils of war and sail to new lands where they will live out their lives as slaves or concubines, and while they wait the Greek soldiers throw torches into Troy and the women watch their once beautiful city burn.
I’m again reminded why these plays have remained important for over 2000 years.
These plays are set after the battle of Troy has ended and in all of them, Andromache (Hector’s widow,) Hecabe (widowed Queen of Troy, mother of Hector and Paris,) Suppliant Women, Electra (daughter of Agamemon and Clytemnestra, sister of Iphigenia,) and Trojan Women Euripides shows the terrible toll war takes on women. All of these women, named relatives of famous men and nameless servants, are grieving for fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers as they face unknown futures torn from the family and home.
I found them all moving and effecting, especially Trojan Women in which the women of Troy are gathered on the shore, awaiting selection by the Greek victors before the women have to say goodbye to their mothers, sisters, and daughters to board Greek ships as spoils of war and sail to new lands where they will live out their lives as slaves or concubines, and while they wait the Greek soldiers throw torches into Troy and the women watch their once beautiful city burn.
I’m again reminded why these plays have remained important for over 2000 years.
January 21, 2023
pains me to say it ampak za nekatere pisce sem vesela, da so mrtvi.
no offense ampak to me je najbolj spominjalo na igre, ki so jih meli v Braavosu v GOT.... in to mislim na najslabsi nacin
komaj prebrala, iskreno, res sem se mucila - Sofoklej, na primer, v primerjavi ful berljiv
pa tudi zelo questionable pogledi?? tip si zasluzi nagrado in hvalo, ker ni posilil mlade punce, ko "bi jo lahko"???
evripid NE pocivaj v miru, upam, da te je vsaka beseda, ki sem jo prebrala, obrnila v grobu
no offense ampak to me je najbolj spominjalo na igre, ki so jih meli v Braavosu v GOT.... in to mislim na najslabsi nacin
komaj prebrala, iskreno, res sem se mucila - Sofoklej, na primer, v primerjavi ful berljiv
pa tudi zelo questionable pogledi?? tip si zasluzi nagrado in hvalo, ker ni posilil mlade punce, ko "bi jo lahko"???
evripid NE pocivaj v miru, upam, da te je vsaka beseda, ki sem jo prebrala, obrnila v grobu
April 4, 2024
Shelving this here more for Electra than the others. That'll come eventually.
Funniest part of this whole thing is the mockery of Aeschylus. In Os Persas / Electra / Hécuba by him, Electra identifies her exiled brother by a lock of hair, a similar footprint, and an article made for him years later. Euripides, knowing his audience, literally has the characters make fun of Aeschylus. Here's my paraphrase:
"See Electra! It's him! Here's his lock of hair!"
"But what if we had different hair as kids?"
"Well, I—"
"I mean I don't know what hair we had!"
"Yes, but—"
"And kids hair changes, man. My friend had black hair as a kid. I had strawberry blonde. How is this helpful?"
"We'll come back to the hair, check out this footprint!"
"What are you, that one Dr. Who from Broadchurch?"
"What do you mean?"
"A detective?"
"In this case..."
"How are you going to identify anyone off a frigging shoe print?! Let alone a brother I haven't seen for my whole frigging life?"
"I just thought—"
"Hold up. Let's say you could. Let's say you're just THAT good. WHO'S TO SAY WE HAD THE SAME SHAPE OF FOOT? What if I got my evil dad's grody feet and he got my momma's dainty little flowers?"
"They could be the same size..."
"Since when do girls and boys of the same age share the same shoe size chart? IN WHAT SYSTEM DOES—"
"FINE. Here. Fine. Here! A piece of his clothes."
"You have. A piece. Of clothes."
"Yes! Yes! See! It's the one you made him years earlier."
"You know I made my brother clothes?"
"Yes! Yes! See! You have to believe now."
"Why. On earth. Would he keep a twenty-year-old t-shirt his toddler self would have painted with his own poop?"
"...😒..."
And so forth.
Funniest part of this whole thing is the mockery of Aeschylus. In Os Persas / Electra / Hécuba by him, Electra identifies her exiled brother by a lock of hair, a similar footprint, and an article made for him years later. Euripides, knowing his audience, literally has the characters make fun of Aeschylus. Here's my paraphrase:
"See Electra! It's him! Here's his lock of hair!"
"But what if we had different hair as kids?"
"Well, I—"
"I mean I don't know what hair we had!"
"Yes, but—"
"And kids hair changes, man. My friend had black hair as a kid. I had strawberry blonde. How is this helpful?"
"We'll come back to the hair, check out this footprint!"
"What are you, that one Dr. Who from Broadchurch?"
"What do you mean?"
"A detective?"
"In this case..."
"How are you going to identify anyone off a frigging shoe print?! Let alone a brother I haven't seen for my whole frigging life?"
"I just thought—"
"Hold up. Let's say you could. Let's say you're just THAT good. WHO'S TO SAY WE HAD THE SAME SHAPE OF FOOT? What if I got my evil dad's grody feet and he got my momma's dainty little flowers?"
"They could be the same size..."
"Since when do girls and boys of the same age share the same shoe size chart? IN WHAT SYSTEM DOES—"
"FINE. Here. Fine. Here! A piece of his clothes."
"You have. A piece. Of clothes."
"Yes! Yes! See! It's the one you made him years earlier."
"You know I made my brother clothes?"
"Yes! Yes! See! You have to believe now."
"Why. On earth. Would he keep a twenty-year-old t-shirt his toddler self would have painted with his own poop?"
"...😒..."
And so forth.
April 5, 2021
3.5
take off suppliant women and i would have finished this a month ago
take off suppliant women and i would have finished this a month ago
December 8, 2025
The death of Astayanax always devastates me.
I enjoyed these, but not as much as Sophocles's plays.
I enjoyed these, but not as much as Sophocles's plays.
June 23, 2021
Beautifully written and devastating
December 7, 2023
why are these ancient greeks always killing each other
September 4, 2011
Why anyone would waste time with modern TV drama when he/she could be reading Euripides is beyond my comprehension. A MASTER, a superb feminist, and a man far ahead of his time in terms of comprehending the insanity of war and/or the blind faith that tends to spawn it.
November 22, 2022
these guys really need to take a chill pill when it comes to revenge
August 18, 2022
Maybe because more of Euripides work is preserved, a lot of it seems more underwhelming, his previous set of plays were redeemed by the powerful works of Medea and Hippolytus but that seems lacking in this set.
Andromache is comme si comme ca, little to fault but not of any particular merit.
Hecabe is more interesting, continuing the theme of Trojan suffering but instead of the passive, lamenting character of Andromache we have the active, lamenting character of Hecabe. In Euripidean fashion we have a shocking ending which is morally ambiguous but at least makes the play interesting, nevertheless it doesn't generate the uncomfortability that Medea achieved.
The Suppliant Women is the peak of Euripides 'debate plays' which seems to act one of Plato's dialogues with a more epic setting. Readers may find the long meditations of democracy v. monarchy and the boundaries of just war an annoying distraction from what should be essentially a story, but the conversations are deep enough to merit reading.
Electra is clearly a parody of Aeschylus' 'The Suppliants', covering the same plot. Of course, Euripides uses this to subvert mythology, making Electra annoying instead of pious, Orestes somewhat cowardly and attempts to rehabilitate Clytemnestra. This subversion is more banal than thought provoking and unnecessary because Aeschylus already had powerfully dealt with the morality of matricide in his Oresteia.
The Trojan Women seems to be an exercise in being as miserable as possible, merely describing tragic events and having the Trojan Women lament them. This play may have been relevant in the context of the contemporary Peloponnesian War and the war crimes of Athens but it lacks a lot of depth.
Andromache is comme si comme ca, little to fault but not of any particular merit.
Hecabe is more interesting, continuing the theme of Trojan suffering but instead of the passive, lamenting character of Andromache we have the active, lamenting character of Hecabe. In Euripidean fashion we have a shocking ending which is morally ambiguous but at least makes the play interesting, nevertheless it doesn't generate the uncomfortability that Medea achieved.
The Suppliant Women is the peak of Euripides 'debate plays' which seems to act one of Plato's dialogues with a more epic setting. Readers may find the long meditations of democracy v. monarchy and the boundaries of just war an annoying distraction from what should be essentially a story, but the conversations are deep enough to merit reading.
Electra is clearly a parody of Aeschylus' 'The Suppliants', covering the same plot. Of course, Euripides uses this to subvert mythology, making Electra annoying instead of pious, Orestes somewhat cowardly and attempts to rehabilitate Clytemnestra. This subversion is more banal than thought provoking and unnecessary because Aeschylus already had powerfully dealt with the morality of matricide in his Oresteia.
The Trojan Women seems to be an exercise in being as miserable as possible, merely describing tragic events and having the Trojan Women lament them. This play may have been relevant in the context of the contemporary Peloponnesian War and the war crimes of Athens but it lacks a lot of depth.
September 9, 2023
(A review only for this edition)
Although I am giving this a four stars, that is only because of how much I like Euripides' plays, and this has two of his best (Electra and Trojan Women if you're wondering), but the translation here is the definition of mediocre.
Euripides is not as lofty as Aeschylus, and thus I won't hold the translator to it for not translating it as verse; I concede that a prose dialogue translation of Euripides might be good. However, not only is the dialogue all prose, so are the songs themselves. The "beautiful poetry" of the songs, as the intro itself calls it, is thus reduced to exhausting and sheer walls of text that go on and on with no preoccupation for meter or even ease on the eyes since there wasn't even an attempt into making compelling poetry out of it.
Likewise the dialogue and songs both are... dull, for the most part, in wanting the Euripidean dialogue to feel "natural", it only turns it banal; in turning the songs to be prose, it removes their fundamental nature as sung laments, and turns them into long and rambling monologues done by multiple people.
I still give it four stars because, well, it's still Euripides - but I'd recommend you look for other translations, frankly.
Although I am giving this a four stars, that is only because of how much I like Euripides' plays, and this has two of his best (Electra and Trojan Women if you're wondering), but the translation here is the definition of mediocre.
Euripides is not as lofty as Aeschylus, and thus I won't hold the translator to it for not translating it as verse; I concede that a prose dialogue translation of Euripides might be good. However, not only is the dialogue all prose, so are the songs themselves. The "beautiful poetry" of the songs, as the intro itself calls it, is thus reduced to exhausting and sheer walls of text that go on and on with no preoccupation for meter or even ease on the eyes since there wasn't even an attempt into making compelling poetry out of it.
Likewise the dialogue and songs both are... dull, for the most part, in wanting the Euripidean dialogue to feel "natural", it only turns it banal; in turning the songs to be prose, it removes their fundamental nature as sung laments, and turns them into long and rambling monologues done by multiple people.
I still give it four stars because, well, it's still Euripides - but I'd recommend you look for other translations, frankly.
November 7, 2022
Euripides knew what he did when he wrote these plays. The Trojan women made me cry and the others have interesting perspectives of well known female characters.
November 8, 2024
Sophocles is better 🤷♀️
December 9, 2010
ANDROMACHE
As I have read Euripides plays there are certain ideas that come through again and again. One is that mortal man is a slave to suffering. If one man seems to be held up as a favorite of the Gods, you must consider his life is not over. This theme is stated by Andromache in the following lines as she laments her status of slave:
ANDROMACHE: “Never should a mortal be called happy until he has died and you have seen how he has passed through his final day before making the journey below.”
Another theme by Euripides is the blurring of class lines. Through his characters you see he does not hold that because a man is noble he is a good person. Euripides makes the distinction in many of his plays between being a good honest man and being rich. This sentiment is stated by Peleus in the following lines as he is arguing with Menelaus over the proposed killing of Andromache and her bastard son:
PELEUS: “Poor soil often yields a better crop than rich; let me tell you, and many a bastard is a better man than a true-born son…. Better for men to choose marriage-relations and friends from the poor and honest than from the wealthy and unprincipled.”
Finally the last theme I will discuss here is the fact that Euripides characters do not all possess unwavering faith in the Gods. There have been many declarations of doubt over the intelligence of the Gods. But when these doubts are expressed, some other character almost invariably expresses the opposite view of confidence in the Gods. In Andromache, the theme of doubt is related by a messenger after he relays an account of Neoptolemus’ death in the following lines:
MESSENGER: “This is how the god who gives oracles to men [Apollo], who arbitrates on justice to all the world, dealt with the son of Achilles, when he came to offer amends. Like an unforgiving man he remembered a quarrel in the past. How then can he be wise?”
The assertion of confidence in the Gods is by the Chorus in the following lines after they witness Thetis promise Godhood to Peleus:
THETIS: “As for you, so that you may know how blessed you are in marrying me, I will free you from all the ills that beset mankind and make you divine, untouched by death and decay. And then from that day forth you will dwell with me in the palace of Nereus, god and goddess together.”
CHORUS: “Many are the forms taken by the plans of the gods and many the things they accomplish beyond men’s hopes. What men expect does not happen; for the unexpected heaven finds a way. And so it has turned out here today.”
All throughout Euripides works there are little gems of philosophic wisdom that are stated so well and hold to be timeless in truth. An example of this is the following lines when the Chorus-Leader comments on the argument between Peleus and Menelaus:
CHORUS-LEADER: “ The tongue can set men at each other’s throats, all from a trivial beginning. People who are wise take good care not to fall out with friends.”
HECABE
This play is interesting in the fact that Euripides wrote two plays on this subject; Hecabe and The Trojan Women. They both are told from the perspective of the fallen Queen of Troy, Hecabe, as she learns of the fates of her children. Hecabe was written 9 years before The Trojan Women and is definitely more sinister. In Hecabe, Hecabe is portrayed as coming to a breaking point and plotting revenge within her powers as a mere slave. This differs from Euripides later play, The Trojan Women where Hecabe is shown as a wretched, unfortunate woman for whom one only has sympathy.
The Greeks, especially Odysseus, have decided to make a human sacrifice to the tomb of Achilles. Polyxena, Hecube’s daughter, is chosen as the one to fulfill this sacrifice. When Polyxena hears her fate her response is only for thought of her mother. Then after Hecabe and Odysseus argue, Polyxena consents to death by sacrifice. Why are all the virgin girls up for the sacrificial block so noble? Is this something girls everywhere should aspire to? Does it make the notion of human sacrifice less revolting? Does Euripides portray them this way to show good character and manners even when death is nigh? Whatever the reason, these girls don’t seem real and do not fit with the claim that Euripides portrays people how they are. These girls fit more within Sophocles plays where he is said to portray characters how they should be.
POLYXENA: “Odysseus, I see you hiding your right hand under your cloak and turning your face away to stop me touching your chin. Do not worry; I shall not appeal to Zeus, protector of suppliants; you are safe. I will go with you; necessity requires it and I want to die. If I did not have this wish, I should be thought a woman of no spirit, clinging to life. And what need have I to go on living? My father was king of all the Trojans; this was the first thing in my life. Then I was brought up with the fair hope of becoming a king’s bride, and many a suitor competed for the honour of bringing me to his hearth and home…. Now I am a slave…. I will take this sunlight from my eyes while they are still free, and give myself to Hades as a bride.”
Hecabe concedes to the wishes of Polyxena and she is sacrificed. Hecabe reaches her breaking point when she learns of the death of her son, Polydorus, and turns from succumbing to fate to scheming for some control. She appeals to Agamemnon for permission to take revenge on her son’s murderer. Agamemnon wants to help her, but is fearful of losing the favor of the Greek army. Hecabe responds by saying the following:
HECABE: “Ah, no end to my suffering! In all the world there is no person who is free; either he is the slave of money or circumstance, or else the majority of his fellow-citizens or a code of laws prevents him from acting as his better judgement dictates.”
Hecabe follows this remark by asking for his help in thought only and not by deed. By this she means when she is found out that he will support her. He agrees. Hecabe then plans and executes her revenge. She lures Polymestor into her tent and she and her fellow slave women from Troy kill his children and blinds Polymestor. Agamemnon defends her when the Greeks inquire over the matter and Hecabe has her victory.
SUPPLIANT WOMEN
I really enjoyed Theseus’ speech as he censures Adrastus for his failures. Theseus lays bare the motives of politics. Each of his points can be applied to our government today and remain valid. One might think Theseus is being self-righteous, but as his actions later prove he is a honorable man and follows the principles of the Gods.
THESEUS: “Again, you led out to war every man of Argos, flouting the advice given in the prophets’ responses; you treated the gods with contempt and so brought destruction on your city. You allowed yourself to be led astray by younger men who love to make their mark in the city, fomenting wars without just cause and causing the deaths of fellow-citizens, the one to win an army-command, another to seize power and play the tyrant, a third to secure his own profit without caring whether the people will suffer any harm as a result of such treatment. There are three divisions in society; first there are the wealthy, who are harmful and endlessly grasping; then come the poor and needy, who are dangerous as they are ruled by envy and cajoled by the words of corrupt leaders into malicious attacks upon the rich; it is the third group, the moderates, who are a city’s lifeline; they are the ones who maintain whatever government the citizen-body establishes.”
Theseus takes on the task of obtaining burial for those denied by the Thebans. First he tries persuasion with the Theban Herald. I like how he personifies Fortune in the following lines:
THESEUS: “O foolish men, learn the truth about human suffering! This life we live is like a wrestling match; some of us succeed today, others tomorrow, others, again, have had their success. Fortune, meanwhile, enjoys herself; the unsuccessful man, hoping for prosperity, reveres her as a goddess, while the one who thrives is afraid of losing her favour and so exalts her name. So you should realize these truths, curbing resentment when the wrong done to you is limited and replying in kind only so far as will not rebound on you.”
Persuasion does not work and Theseus mounts an attack on Thebes to recover the bodies denied burial. He is successful, but does not enter Thebes. “He had come, he said, not to sack the city but to recover the dead.”
The Argive suppliants are grateful when they hear the news of Theseus’ success. Adrastus contemplates the stupidity of man:
ADRASTUS: “Oh, the stupidity of man! You shoot your arrows beyond the target and, when, as you deserve, troubles crowd around your heads, it is only events that can teach you a lesson, not friends’ advice. And you cities who have it in your power to end your sufferings by debate, you reach a conclusion by bloodshed, not parley…. O wretched mankind, why do you equip yourselves with spears and spill each other’s blood? Make an end of this! Cease your struggles and live at peace in your cities as tolerant neighbors. Life is such a brief moment; we should pass through it as easily as we can, avoiding pain.”
The mothers of the dead sing a dreadful lamentation. The cliché ignorance is bliss comes to mind in the following lines:
CHORUS: “If only Time, the ancient father of days, had kept us from marriage all our lives! What need had we of children? What awful experience did we imagine would overtake us, if we never were joined in marriage? But now the misery we see is beyond all doubt, robbed as we are of our beloved sons…. My life is now no life, and like a roving cloud, I am driven to and fro by heartless winds. … I am old and utterly wretched, to be numbered neither as dead nor as living, my fate hovering somewhere between the two…. Oh, oh! All for nothing the effort invested in my children, all for no return the pain of giving birth, the nurture of a mother, the care of sleepless eyes, my loving kisses!”
When the dead are laid out, Adrastus “speaks in their praise”. Adrastus names each of the leaders and tells of each of their strengths – definitely worth the read (pg. 118-119).
At the end of the play, the widow of Capaneus, Evadne, jumps on her husband’s pyre and ends her life. Before she does she has these haunting lines to say:
EVADNE: “I see it, yes, I see my end where I stand. May fortune attend my leap, as for fair fame’s sake I plunge from this rock into the pyre, and, clasping my husband in loving embrace in the fire’s radiant glow, my body pressed close to his, I shall pass to the halls of Persephone. Never shall I betray you as you lie beneath the earth by continuing to live. Kindle the wedding torch, begin my nuptials! May posterity in Argos look upon this marriage as worthy and blessed, when ashes of wedded husband unite in the breeze with those of noble wife, a guileless spirit.”
As I read these ancient works, I see things and wonder if this or that was the origin of various ideas. Here I wonder if this was the origin of the practice of suttee. Suttee was a religious funeral practice among some Hindu communities in which a recently widowed Hindu woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. This practice was outlawed when the British were in control of India. A good historical fiction book on this subject is The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye.
THE TROJAN WOMEN
The woes of Andromache, the widow of Hector (a great allegory near the end):
ANDROMACHE: “I never allowed the frilly gossip of women
To infiltrate my house,
And kept to the steady counsels of my heart,
With quiet tongue and eyes serene before my spouse.
I knew when to rule my husband
And when to let him win:
A virtue the Achaeans came to know of
And it proved my downfall,
For when I was captured the son of Achilles claimed me for his own,
So I shall be a slave in the house of my husband’s murderers.
And now if I put away the image of my darling Hector
And open my heart to a new man
It will seem like disloyalty to the dead,
But if I turn from this new lord
I’ll only earn his hate.
Yet they say that a single night in bed
Suffices to end a woman’s aversion to a man.
I, however, feel nothing but disgust
For the woman who forgets her former man
And beds down with a second.
Why, even a dray-mare
Separated from the horse she pulls with
Shows repugnance for another partner in the yoke,
And this in a mere animal of a lower order
Without speech or reason,
Whereas you, my dearest Hector, were my perfect mate:
Noble, intelligent, rich, brave – a man great in every way….
But now you are no more
And I am about to board a ship for Greece,
A prisoner of war and a subservient slave.”
This play is sad. It is interesting it is told from the Trojan perspective. It is told by Hecuba, the captured Queen of Troy. She learns about the death of yet more of her children, but to me the most haunting speech is for her grandson, Astyanax, after he is killed by the Greeks:
“The pleasures that you caught a glimpse of,
Enough to know their worth, are snatched from you,
And your happiness of home is lost, forgotten.
[cradling his head]
My stricken child,
How ironically your own ancestral walls
Apollo’s handiwork, have carded out your curls:
Those curls your mother used to stroke and kiss,
Which now are pierced by splintered blood-leached bone.
Nothing can describe the horror of it.
And your hands, so like your father’s,
Out of joint and limp!
Your dear lips,
That sent forth so many childish sallies – silent now.
Bounding on to my bed you used to cry:
‘Grandmother, I’ll chop off a big curl for you
And bring a crowd of my pals to your burial
To send you my love and last farewell.’
It has not happened so.
It is not you but I, your grandmother,
And old cityless, childless crone
That has to bury your torn body.
Wasted, lost forever,
All those cuddles, all that care,
All that watching while you slept.
What frame of words is possible for your tomb?
Here lies a guileless babe
Killed by the Greeks who were afraid.
An epitaph to disgrace all Greece.
And now you possess nothing of your father’s heritage
Except this shield of bronze – and for your tomb.”
ELECTRA
I am finding after reading Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ Electra and now Euripides’ Electra, I don’t like this story. I still believe Aeschylus was the only one who sort of did anything with the story in terms of finding something positive in all the murder and exaggerated hatred. Aeschylus tackles the question if two gods have opposing purposes, which will prevail? In Euripides’ version he ends the play and blames Apollo outright. How did this view sit with the ancient Greeks? To believe the Gods can be wrong and wrongly direct you in life?
I do love the passages that stand the test of time. In ancient Greece and for many years until recently, one’s birth has been significant in who a person is and can be. Even in ancient Greece there were feelings that this was not entirely fair:
Orestes: “Look at this man:
He has no standing among the Argives,
Is not swollen-headed because of his line,
Is a man of the people,
Yet whose humanity blazes forth.
So learn some wisdom
And avoid the pitfall of hasty judgement.
Only by conduct and by character
Should you judge the quality of a human being:
Those that make contented states and happy families.”
In Euripides’ play, Orestes expresses doubt about killing his mother and even doubt in the god Apollo before the murder of Clytemnestra. This doubt is not present in the previous plays about Orestes by the previous tragedians and serves in this play as a premonition of what is to come. The following is also an example of the debates that are common in Euripides’ plays. Orestes is talked back to his task by his sister Electra:
Orestes: Our mother … what are we to do … murder her?
Electra: Have you gone soft at the sight of your mother?
Orestes: No, but to kill the one who bore me, gave me suck!
Electra: The one who butchered your father and mine.
Orestes: Apollo, what a blunder your oracle has made!
Electra: If Apollo blunders, who on earth is wise?
Orestes: But to have me kill my mother – against all nature!
Electra: How does it hurt you to avenge your own father?
Orestes: But to be branded as a matricide – I who was innocent!
Electra: Be branded as sacrilegious, then, if you don’t succor your father.
Orestes: I’ll have to pay the blood-price of my mother.
Electra: But if you do not avenge, what price for your father?
Orestes: It was a demon telling me to do it, pretending to be a god.
Electra: Sitting at the holy tripod? I think not.
Orestes: I’ll never be persuaded that this oracle is wholesome.
Electra: So you’ll turn coward? Be no more a man?
Orestes: [after a long pause] Very well then, how do I do it? Lay the same trap for her?
Electra: Exactly: the snare that trapped and killed Aegisthus.
Orestes: Sheer horror is this enterprise, and horror if I succeed. But if it please the gods, so be it: a bittersweet ordeal.”
Castor and Pollux, brothers of Clytemnestra and gods, come to dole out the fate of Orestes and Electra. Near the end, the chorus asks an interesting question:
Chorus: “How is it that you, gods and brothers of the deceased,
Did not ward off the powers of death from her house?
Castor: Karma and fate propelled her to her downfall.
That, and the careless utterance of Apollo.
Electra: What Apollo, what oracles, made me kill my mother?
Castor: It was a joint compulsion, with a joint result:
A single ancestral curse has ruined you both.”
As I have read Euripides plays there are certain ideas that come through again and again. One is that mortal man is a slave to suffering. If one man seems to be held up as a favorite of the Gods, you must consider his life is not over. This theme is stated by Andromache in the following lines as she laments her status of slave:
ANDROMACHE: “Never should a mortal be called happy until he has died and you have seen how he has passed through his final day before making the journey below.”
Another theme by Euripides is the blurring of class lines. Through his characters you see he does not hold that because a man is noble he is a good person. Euripides makes the distinction in many of his plays between being a good honest man and being rich. This sentiment is stated by Peleus in the following lines as he is arguing with Menelaus over the proposed killing of Andromache and her bastard son:
PELEUS: “Poor soil often yields a better crop than rich; let me tell you, and many a bastard is a better man than a true-born son…. Better for men to choose marriage-relations and friends from the poor and honest than from the wealthy and unprincipled.”
Finally the last theme I will discuss here is the fact that Euripides characters do not all possess unwavering faith in the Gods. There have been many declarations of doubt over the intelligence of the Gods. But when these doubts are expressed, some other character almost invariably expresses the opposite view of confidence in the Gods. In Andromache, the theme of doubt is related by a messenger after he relays an account of Neoptolemus’ death in the following lines:
MESSENGER: “This is how the god who gives oracles to men [Apollo], who arbitrates on justice to all the world, dealt with the son of Achilles, when he came to offer amends. Like an unforgiving man he remembered a quarrel in the past. How then can he be wise?”
The assertion of confidence in the Gods is by the Chorus in the following lines after they witness Thetis promise Godhood to Peleus:
THETIS: “As for you, so that you may know how blessed you are in marrying me, I will free you from all the ills that beset mankind and make you divine, untouched by death and decay. And then from that day forth you will dwell with me in the palace of Nereus, god and goddess together.”
CHORUS: “Many are the forms taken by the plans of the gods and many the things they accomplish beyond men’s hopes. What men expect does not happen; for the unexpected heaven finds a way. And so it has turned out here today.”
All throughout Euripides works there are little gems of philosophic wisdom that are stated so well and hold to be timeless in truth. An example of this is the following lines when the Chorus-Leader comments on the argument between Peleus and Menelaus:
CHORUS-LEADER: “ The tongue can set men at each other’s throats, all from a trivial beginning. People who are wise take good care not to fall out with friends.”
HECABE
This play is interesting in the fact that Euripides wrote two plays on this subject; Hecabe and The Trojan Women. They both are told from the perspective of the fallen Queen of Troy, Hecabe, as she learns of the fates of her children. Hecabe was written 9 years before The Trojan Women and is definitely more sinister. In Hecabe, Hecabe is portrayed as coming to a breaking point and plotting revenge within her powers as a mere slave. This differs from Euripides later play, The Trojan Women where Hecabe is shown as a wretched, unfortunate woman for whom one only has sympathy.
The Greeks, especially Odysseus, have decided to make a human sacrifice to the tomb of Achilles. Polyxena, Hecube’s daughter, is chosen as the one to fulfill this sacrifice. When Polyxena hears her fate her response is only for thought of her mother. Then after Hecabe and Odysseus argue, Polyxena consents to death by sacrifice. Why are all the virgin girls up for the sacrificial block so noble? Is this something girls everywhere should aspire to? Does it make the notion of human sacrifice less revolting? Does Euripides portray them this way to show good character and manners even when death is nigh? Whatever the reason, these girls don’t seem real and do not fit with the claim that Euripides portrays people how they are. These girls fit more within Sophocles plays where he is said to portray characters how they should be.
POLYXENA: “Odysseus, I see you hiding your right hand under your cloak and turning your face away to stop me touching your chin. Do not worry; I shall not appeal to Zeus, protector of suppliants; you are safe. I will go with you; necessity requires it and I want to die. If I did not have this wish, I should be thought a woman of no spirit, clinging to life. And what need have I to go on living? My father was king of all the Trojans; this was the first thing in my life. Then I was brought up with the fair hope of becoming a king’s bride, and many a suitor competed for the honour of bringing me to his hearth and home…. Now I am a slave…. I will take this sunlight from my eyes while they are still free, and give myself to Hades as a bride.”
Hecabe concedes to the wishes of Polyxena and she is sacrificed. Hecabe reaches her breaking point when she learns of the death of her son, Polydorus, and turns from succumbing to fate to scheming for some control. She appeals to Agamemnon for permission to take revenge on her son’s murderer. Agamemnon wants to help her, but is fearful of losing the favor of the Greek army. Hecabe responds by saying the following:
HECABE: “Ah, no end to my suffering! In all the world there is no person who is free; either he is the slave of money or circumstance, or else the majority of his fellow-citizens or a code of laws prevents him from acting as his better judgement dictates.”
Hecabe follows this remark by asking for his help in thought only and not by deed. By this she means when she is found out that he will support her. He agrees. Hecabe then plans and executes her revenge. She lures Polymestor into her tent and she and her fellow slave women from Troy kill his children and blinds Polymestor. Agamemnon defends her when the Greeks inquire over the matter and Hecabe has her victory.
SUPPLIANT WOMEN
I really enjoyed Theseus’ speech as he censures Adrastus for his failures. Theseus lays bare the motives of politics. Each of his points can be applied to our government today and remain valid. One might think Theseus is being self-righteous, but as his actions later prove he is a honorable man and follows the principles of the Gods.
THESEUS: “Again, you led out to war every man of Argos, flouting the advice given in the prophets’ responses; you treated the gods with contempt and so brought destruction on your city. You allowed yourself to be led astray by younger men who love to make their mark in the city, fomenting wars without just cause and causing the deaths of fellow-citizens, the one to win an army-command, another to seize power and play the tyrant, a third to secure his own profit without caring whether the people will suffer any harm as a result of such treatment. There are three divisions in society; first there are the wealthy, who are harmful and endlessly grasping; then come the poor and needy, who are dangerous as they are ruled by envy and cajoled by the words of corrupt leaders into malicious attacks upon the rich; it is the third group, the moderates, who are a city’s lifeline; they are the ones who maintain whatever government the citizen-body establishes.”
Theseus takes on the task of obtaining burial for those denied by the Thebans. First he tries persuasion with the Theban Herald. I like how he personifies Fortune in the following lines:
THESEUS: “O foolish men, learn the truth about human suffering! This life we live is like a wrestling match; some of us succeed today, others tomorrow, others, again, have had their success. Fortune, meanwhile, enjoys herself; the unsuccessful man, hoping for prosperity, reveres her as a goddess, while the one who thrives is afraid of losing her favour and so exalts her name. So you should realize these truths, curbing resentment when the wrong done to you is limited and replying in kind only so far as will not rebound on you.”
Persuasion does not work and Theseus mounts an attack on Thebes to recover the bodies denied burial. He is successful, but does not enter Thebes. “He had come, he said, not to sack the city but to recover the dead.”
The Argive suppliants are grateful when they hear the news of Theseus’ success. Adrastus contemplates the stupidity of man:
ADRASTUS: “Oh, the stupidity of man! You shoot your arrows beyond the target and, when, as you deserve, troubles crowd around your heads, it is only events that can teach you a lesson, not friends’ advice. And you cities who have it in your power to end your sufferings by debate, you reach a conclusion by bloodshed, not parley…. O wretched mankind, why do you equip yourselves with spears and spill each other’s blood? Make an end of this! Cease your struggles and live at peace in your cities as tolerant neighbors. Life is such a brief moment; we should pass through it as easily as we can, avoiding pain.”
The mothers of the dead sing a dreadful lamentation. The cliché ignorance is bliss comes to mind in the following lines:
CHORUS: “If only Time, the ancient father of days, had kept us from marriage all our lives! What need had we of children? What awful experience did we imagine would overtake us, if we never were joined in marriage? But now the misery we see is beyond all doubt, robbed as we are of our beloved sons…. My life is now no life, and like a roving cloud, I am driven to and fro by heartless winds. … I am old and utterly wretched, to be numbered neither as dead nor as living, my fate hovering somewhere between the two…. Oh, oh! All for nothing the effort invested in my children, all for no return the pain of giving birth, the nurture of a mother, the care of sleepless eyes, my loving kisses!”
When the dead are laid out, Adrastus “speaks in their praise”. Adrastus names each of the leaders and tells of each of their strengths – definitely worth the read (pg. 118-119).
At the end of the play, the widow of Capaneus, Evadne, jumps on her husband’s pyre and ends her life. Before she does she has these haunting lines to say:
EVADNE: “I see it, yes, I see my end where I stand. May fortune attend my leap, as for fair fame’s sake I plunge from this rock into the pyre, and, clasping my husband in loving embrace in the fire’s radiant glow, my body pressed close to his, I shall pass to the halls of Persephone. Never shall I betray you as you lie beneath the earth by continuing to live. Kindle the wedding torch, begin my nuptials! May posterity in Argos look upon this marriage as worthy and blessed, when ashes of wedded husband unite in the breeze with those of noble wife, a guileless spirit.”
As I read these ancient works, I see things and wonder if this or that was the origin of various ideas. Here I wonder if this was the origin of the practice of suttee. Suttee was a religious funeral practice among some Hindu communities in which a recently widowed Hindu woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. This practice was outlawed when the British were in control of India. A good historical fiction book on this subject is The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye.
THE TROJAN WOMEN
The woes of Andromache, the widow of Hector (a great allegory near the end):
ANDROMACHE: “I never allowed the frilly gossip of women
To infiltrate my house,
And kept to the steady counsels of my heart,
With quiet tongue and eyes serene before my spouse.
I knew when to rule my husband
And when to let him win:
A virtue the Achaeans came to know of
And it proved my downfall,
For when I was captured the son of Achilles claimed me for his own,
So I shall be a slave in the house of my husband’s murderers.
And now if I put away the image of my darling Hector
And open my heart to a new man
It will seem like disloyalty to the dead,
But if I turn from this new lord
I’ll only earn his hate.
Yet they say that a single night in bed
Suffices to end a woman’s aversion to a man.
I, however, feel nothing but disgust
For the woman who forgets her former man
And beds down with a second.
Why, even a dray-mare
Separated from the horse she pulls with
Shows repugnance for another partner in the yoke,
And this in a mere animal of a lower order
Without speech or reason,
Whereas you, my dearest Hector, were my perfect mate:
Noble, intelligent, rich, brave – a man great in every way….
But now you are no more
And I am about to board a ship for Greece,
A prisoner of war and a subservient slave.”
This play is sad. It is interesting it is told from the Trojan perspective. It is told by Hecuba, the captured Queen of Troy. She learns about the death of yet more of her children, but to me the most haunting speech is for her grandson, Astyanax, after he is killed by the Greeks:
“The pleasures that you caught a glimpse of,
Enough to know their worth, are snatched from you,
And your happiness of home is lost, forgotten.
[cradling his head]
My stricken child,
How ironically your own ancestral walls
Apollo’s handiwork, have carded out your curls:
Those curls your mother used to stroke and kiss,
Which now are pierced by splintered blood-leached bone.
Nothing can describe the horror of it.
And your hands, so like your father’s,
Out of joint and limp!
Your dear lips,
That sent forth so many childish sallies – silent now.
Bounding on to my bed you used to cry:
‘Grandmother, I’ll chop off a big curl for you
And bring a crowd of my pals to your burial
To send you my love and last farewell.’
It has not happened so.
It is not you but I, your grandmother,
And old cityless, childless crone
That has to bury your torn body.
Wasted, lost forever,
All those cuddles, all that care,
All that watching while you slept.
What frame of words is possible for your tomb?
Here lies a guileless babe
Killed by the Greeks who were afraid.
An epitaph to disgrace all Greece.
And now you possess nothing of your father’s heritage
Except this shield of bronze – and for your tomb.”
ELECTRA
I am finding after reading Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ Electra and now Euripides’ Electra, I don’t like this story. I still believe Aeschylus was the only one who sort of did anything with the story in terms of finding something positive in all the murder and exaggerated hatred. Aeschylus tackles the question if two gods have opposing purposes, which will prevail? In Euripides’ version he ends the play and blames Apollo outright. How did this view sit with the ancient Greeks? To believe the Gods can be wrong and wrongly direct you in life?
I do love the passages that stand the test of time. In ancient Greece and for many years until recently, one’s birth has been significant in who a person is and can be. Even in ancient Greece there were feelings that this was not entirely fair:
Orestes: “Look at this man:
He has no standing among the Argives,
Is not swollen-headed because of his line,
Is a man of the people,
Yet whose humanity blazes forth.
So learn some wisdom
And avoid the pitfall of hasty judgement.
Only by conduct and by character
Should you judge the quality of a human being:
Those that make contented states and happy families.”
In Euripides’ play, Orestes expresses doubt about killing his mother and even doubt in the god Apollo before the murder of Clytemnestra. This doubt is not present in the previous plays about Orestes by the previous tragedians and serves in this play as a premonition of what is to come. The following is also an example of the debates that are common in Euripides’ plays. Orestes is talked back to his task by his sister Electra:
Orestes: Our mother … what are we to do … murder her?
Electra: Have you gone soft at the sight of your mother?
Orestes: No, but to kill the one who bore me, gave me suck!
Electra: The one who butchered your father and mine.
Orestes: Apollo, what a blunder your oracle has made!
Electra: If Apollo blunders, who on earth is wise?
Orestes: But to have me kill my mother – against all nature!
Electra: How does it hurt you to avenge your own father?
Orestes: But to be branded as a matricide – I who was innocent!
Electra: Be branded as sacrilegious, then, if you don’t succor your father.
Orestes: I’ll have to pay the blood-price of my mother.
Electra: But if you do not avenge, what price for your father?
Orestes: It was a demon telling me to do it, pretending to be a god.
Electra: Sitting at the holy tripod? I think not.
Orestes: I’ll never be persuaded that this oracle is wholesome.
Electra: So you’ll turn coward? Be no more a man?
Orestes: [after a long pause] Very well then, how do I do it? Lay the same trap for her?
Electra: Exactly: the snare that trapped and killed Aegisthus.
Orestes: Sheer horror is this enterprise, and horror if I succeed. But if it please the gods, so be it: a bittersweet ordeal.”
Castor and Pollux, brothers of Clytemnestra and gods, come to dole out the fate of Orestes and Electra. Near the end, the chorus asks an interesting question:
Chorus: “How is it that you, gods and brothers of the deceased,
Did not ward off the powers of death from her house?
Castor: Karma and fate propelled her to her downfall.
That, and the careless utterance of Apollo.
Electra: What Apollo, what oracles, made me kill my mother?
Castor: It was a joint compulsion, with a joint result:
A single ancestral curse has ruined you both.”
January 26, 2022
Running through these plays, composed in the provided chronology if not contiguously, is woe of defeat. In each are the protagonists – in almost every case women – of a defeated caste or faction, suffering under a victorious force. (And in most cases this subjugating antagonist is Greek, while the woebegone protagonists are Asian.) Perhaps Euripides was foreseeing the decline of his native Athens; or at the least finding some mind for its many victims in warfare. Only Suppliant Women seems, of this collection, to not resort entirely to misery – and yet even here is a sudden tragedy appended to the back of the play, as though to ensure no theatre of warfare is prosecuted bloodlessly. Contemporary incident may, in other cases, degrade the artistic material. Euripides’ prejudice against Sparta incurs frequently, especially in Andromache, sometimes declining into long, slanderous monologues that seem (at most) tertiary to the subject of the play at hand. Menelaus becomes a fool for being a Spartan, little more. But with these digressions comes also Euripides’ tendency for sophistry – soon after the Spartans are censured in Andromache, he diverts into an analysis of to whom victory belongs, and on whom responsibility lies. This topsy-turvy respin of the Trojan war reaches its acme in Trojan Women, in which Cassandra is glad to be made Agamemnon’s concubine – knowing it will result in the doom of him and his house; it is here that the Greek victory becomes, in the largeness of time, a Greek defeat. More directly to this point – the immediate and gruelling regret felt by Orestes and Electra following the murder of their Spartan mother; or the crude antipathy spat by a blind Polymestor, on whom revenge becomes especially bleak. The closing image of Trojan Women closes out this apparent-cycle poetically: the blazing carcase of Troy, disappearing within a swell of smoke. Wiped from the very earth, its people scattered, its heroes lain low.
May 29, 2023
"Poor boy, how cruelly your own ancestral walls, defences Loxias built, have mangled you and shorn from your head those curls your mother cherished so lovingly, showering them with kisses! Now your bones are crushed and from your bloody head Death grins out (let me not hide the horror). O hands so precious, so like your father's, now you dangle before me splayed out at the wrist! O mouth I loved, with all those brave oaths you uttered, you are silenced now!... Oh, when I think back, all those hugs we had, all the times I fed you and let you sleep beside me, all wasted! What could a poet write about you one day on your tomb? 'This boy was once killed by Greeks because they were afraid of him.'" - from Trojan Women.
I think Euripides is a better writer than Aeschylus and Sophocles, particularly in his representation of character and human experience. Of course he had the benefit of coming afterwards, but these plays feel more modern than his predecessors, and are more engaging. Electra, for instance, is richer than Aeschylus in its exploration of the moral complexities of Orestes killing his own mother. Trojan Women got me teary eyed when the Greeks come to Andromache to murder her son, Astyanax. The emotions in Sophocles and Aeschylus always feel a little abstract by comparison.
I think Euripides is a better writer than Aeschylus and Sophocles, particularly in his representation of character and human experience. Of course he had the benefit of coming afterwards, but these plays feel more modern than his predecessors, and are more engaging. Electra, for instance, is richer than Aeschylus in its exploration of the moral complexities of Orestes killing his own mother. Trojan Women got me teary eyed when the Greeks come to Andromache to murder her son, Astyanax. The emotions in Sophocles and Aeschylus always feel a little abstract by comparison.
August 29, 2023
My focus was Euripides 'Electra', to add to the range of classical texts stemming from Homer's The Iliad, and the mythological events of the Trojan War. This play occurs after Agamemnon's return to Argos after his victory in Troy, and after his murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra. I read Electra after I had read Costanza Casati's Clytemnestra, and Aeschylus' Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers, so it was interesting to see what Euripides made use of from the myth and what he didn't.
I enjoyed the continued use of the Greek chorus, with the Farmer seemingly taking on some of the role here in summarising what had occurred up until the play's events, and the use of the gods to provide the audience with the 'verdict' on the actions of Orestes and Electra. In some texts they are wholly vindicated for exacting revenge on Clytemnestra for killing her husband, yet in this, they are exiled and yet again, Electra is 'given' to a man. Oh those gods really didn't see much use for women beyond the prize. No wonder Clytemnestra went off the rails like she did!
Able to be read in a single session, Electra, translated by John N Davie is an easy and engaging read, and the characters are infinitely more sympathetic than Aeschylus portrays them, even if Electra actually helps perform the murder of her mother in this version, and given how gruesome Aegisthus' murder actually is.
I enjoyed the continued use of the Greek chorus, with the Farmer seemingly taking on some of the role here in summarising what had occurred up until the play's events, and the use of the gods to provide the audience with the 'verdict' on the actions of Orestes and Electra. In some texts they are wholly vindicated for exacting revenge on Clytemnestra for killing her husband, yet in this, they are exiled and yet again, Electra is 'given' to a man. Oh those gods really didn't see much use for women beyond the prize. No wonder Clytemnestra went off the rails like she did!
Able to be read in a single session, Electra, translated by John N Davie is an easy and engaging read, and the characters are infinitely more sympathetic than Aeschylus portrays them, even if Electra actually helps perform the murder of her mother in this version, and given how gruesome Aegisthus' murder actually is.
June 27, 2025
I first cracked open Electra and Other Plays on a gloomy winter afternoon when I was feeling particularly betrayed by the world (or maybe just by a group project). Euripides didn’t comfort me. He called me out — and then handed me a poisoned goblet of empathy. This isn’t feel-good tragedy. It’s feel-seen tragedy. These plays strip the gods off their pedestals and show human suffering in all its messy, screaming complexity.
In Electra, we meet a woman forged in the fire of revenge — not the cool, strategic kind, but the “I’ve been gaslit, gatekept, and grief-stricken for too damn long” kind. She's not noble like Sophocles’ version. She’s raw. Awkward. Petty. And painfully, painfully real. You can feel the dirt under her nails as she plots with Orestes. Euripides gives us a justice that tastes like ash — necessary, but never clean.
The other plays — The Trojan Women, Helen, Iphigenia in Tauris — are variations on a theme: war, exile, womanhood, and a silence from Olympus that grows louder with every monologue. As a teacher, as a daughter, as a reader trying to make sense of a world that often breaks the innocent, these plays didn’t heal me. They witnessed me.
Euripides doesn’t ask us to like his heroines. He dares us to understand them.
In Electra, we meet a woman forged in the fire of revenge — not the cool, strategic kind, but the “I’ve been gaslit, gatekept, and grief-stricken for too damn long” kind. She's not noble like Sophocles’ version. She’s raw. Awkward. Petty. And painfully, painfully real. You can feel the dirt under her nails as she plots with Orestes. Euripides gives us a justice that tastes like ash — necessary, but never clean.
The other plays — The Trojan Women, Helen, Iphigenia in Tauris — are variations on a theme: war, exile, womanhood, and a silence from Olympus that grows louder with every monologue. As a teacher, as a daughter, as a reader trying to make sense of a world that often breaks the innocent, these plays didn’t heal me. They witnessed me.
Euripides doesn’t ask us to like his heroines. He dares us to understand them.
August 19, 2016
Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
Now that I've read a collection of plays by the three tragedians I can say pretty confidently that Aeschylus has the most elaborate writing, Sophocles has the most exciting stories, but Euripides is the best all-rounder. While I didn't enjoy The Suppliants in this collection, all the other plays were engaging and interesting. Euripides has a slightly stronger focus on women which stood out to me, though still very much in the style of the time (it's nice to see classical female characters explored, but he isn't going to be winning any awards for being especially progressive). One thing I would say was that the ordering of the plays was a little strange if you aren't familiar with the mythos; I assume it's done by chronological date of when they were written, but the play that explains the circumstances surrounding every other individual play (The Trojan Women) is put right at the end. If you hadn't already learnt about the exposition of Troy this might make the collection a bit less accessible.
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
Now that I've read a collection of plays by the three tragedians I can say pretty confidently that Aeschylus has the most elaborate writing, Sophocles has the most exciting stories, but Euripides is the best all-rounder. While I didn't enjoy The Suppliants in this collection, all the other plays were engaging and interesting. Euripides has a slightly stronger focus on women which stood out to me, though still very much in the style of the time (it's nice to see classical female characters explored, but he isn't going to be winning any awards for being especially progressive). One thing I would say was that the ordering of the plays was a little strange if you aren't familiar with the mythos; I assume it's done by chronological date of when they were written, but the play that explains the circumstances surrounding every other individual play (The Trojan Women) is put right at the end. If you hadn't already learnt about the exposition of Troy this might make the collection a bit less accessible.
October 24, 2019
This translation, coming off the back of Anne Carson's An Oresteia was kind of tough to read. I know Carson's translations often cop a lot of slack for being too modern and thus taking the reader out of the story, but I dunno, I really enjoy her take. John Davie's translation kind of hurt my head to read.
I enjoyed the stories, and learning more about Euripidean tragedy, but overall I was kind of meh about it. Usually when I read plays I like to think about the staging and how lines would be read, but because of the archaic and direct nature of the translation, this was kind of impossible to do with any modern ideas (this, also stems from the fact that Greek plays were performed in big stadiums, where actions had to be narrated because the audience often couldn't see well what was going on, so the dialogue is pretty expository). Towards the end of every play I could feel myself wanting to count how many pages were left until the next one, which sucked, because I really wanted to enjoy these.
My favourite plays were Hecabe and Elektra.
I enjoyed the stories, and learning more about Euripidean tragedy, but overall I was kind of meh about it. Usually when I read plays I like to think about the staging and how lines would be read, but because of the archaic and direct nature of the translation, this was kind of impossible to do with any modern ideas (this, also stems from the fact that Greek plays were performed in big stadiums, where actions had to be narrated because the audience often couldn't see well what was going on, so the dialogue is pretty expository). Towards the end of every play I could feel myself wanting to count how many pages were left until the next one, which sucked, because I really wanted to enjoy these.
My favourite plays were Hecabe and Elektra.
December 14, 2022
As a fan of Euripides’ Medea, I was eager to read more of his tragedies, and this opportunity arose as part of my Classical Studies course, during which I wrote an essay on Trojan Women and Hecabe.
I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read them for what they are in my own leisure but also to think about them critically and consider them through an academic lens. All five plays focus predominantly on women, a rare feature of other playwrights’ work, and as such gender plays a crucial role in the narrative. Other themes of duty and obligation are also prevalent and they teach us much about the importance of honouring the dead and conducting appropriate burial rites. These tragedies are often seen as grim, bleak, and protestations of war, but they’re so much more than that and are far too interesting to reduce them in such simplistic ways.
My ranking of the plays:
1. Trojan Women
2. Andromache
3. Hecabe
4. Electra
5. Suppliant Women
I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read them for what they are in my own leisure but also to think about them critically and consider them through an academic lens. All five plays focus predominantly on women, a rare feature of other playwrights’ work, and as such gender plays a crucial role in the narrative. Other themes of duty and obligation are also prevalent and they teach us much about the importance of honouring the dead and conducting appropriate burial rites. These tragedies are often seen as grim, bleak, and protestations of war, but they’re so much more than that and are far too interesting to reduce them in such simplistic ways.
My ranking of the plays:
1. Trojan Women
2. Andromache
3. Hecabe
4. Electra
5. Suppliant Women
October 3, 2023
"A woman’s heart is a jealous thing." [from Andromache]
A collection of 5 plays by Euripides, one of the greatest ancient playwrights. Andromache and Trojan Woman are both such superb pieces of literature. I can't believe none of these plays was every required reading in any of my history classes, even in college (and I was a History major can almost a year). Everyone should make a point to read at least one play by Euripides during their life, if only to see his writing compared to other ancient playwrights.
A collection of 5 plays by Euripides, one of the greatest ancient playwrights. Andromache and Trojan Woman are both such superb pieces of literature. I can't believe none of these plays was every required reading in any of my history classes, even in college (and I was a History major can almost a year). Everyone should make a point to read at least one play by Euripides during their life, if only to see his writing compared to other ancient playwrights.
April 2, 2010
I liked the Sophocles version best, but this one was good as well. It's interesting to see how the same story is retold in different ways along time -until the latest Eugene O'Neill version. They all have so many little differences and so much in common at the same time. There could even be a current version of Electra!
February 15, 2024
Read Hecuba for class. I'm learning Polyxena's monologue and wanted the full context of the play. This translation is so raw. It's inspiring me to become a classics translator! I am so fascinated by how the women interact in this play. The Chorus Leader is my new dream role: "Spare us your insolence and do not make your own troubles an excuse for such sweeping condemnation of all womenkind."
October 22, 2022
I only read Electra; I don’t know if it’s the translation but this wasn’t very interesting or engaging to me. I know it’s a classic Greek tragedy but I guess it just wasn’t for me, read others that were way better.
December 21, 2022
Such a fantastic selection of great tragedies!!! The tragedies included in this book are Masterpieces, and the translation was so readable and beautiful. The Trojan Women is one of my all-time favourite tragedies. I highly recommend.
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January 21, 2023i dont know how to rate school books. very interesting. she did in fact kill her mother. he did in fact kill his father. it did in fact not end well. euripides is a master of the stage. i put too much time into this.
January 25, 2025
"It has been said that the good in life is outweighed by the bad. The view I hold is contrary to this: I say that mankind's blessings outnumber its woes. If it were not the case, our life on earth would have ceased."
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