Ten Greek Plays in Contemporary Translations

by L.R. Lind (editor)

A brief essay on the characteristics of ancient Greek drama prefaces a collection of plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Fiction, Drama, Mythology, Poetry

Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what the standard translations are for the extant Greek plays--I see Robert Fagles, David Grene and Richard Lattimore quite often, though I'm sure there are dozens of others. The biggest draw to this collection may be that there are some translations here that I don't think are available elsewhere, or are at least rare. There are nine different translators here, with L. R. Lind doing duty twice. I am usually unable to see much difference in translations, but, at least in this case, one translation stood out as remarkably better than what I'd tried reading before--Louis MacNeice's translation of Agamemnon. I had tried to read Robert Fagles version some time ago, and I could not get through it.

Here is a list of titles, with author and translator:

Aeschylus:

Prometheus Bound by Rex Warner

Agamemnon by Louis MacNeice

Sophocles

Antigone by Shaemas O'Sheel

Oedipus Rex by Albert Cook

Philoctetes by Kathleen Freeman

Euripedes

Alcestis by Richard Aldington

Suppliants by L. R. Lind

Andromache by L. R. Lind

Bacchae by Henry Birkhead

Aristophenes

Lysistrata by Charles T. Murphy

I had read Antigone, Oedipus Rex, and Lysistrata before, so I did not read through these particular translations. Of the others, the only one I did not care for was The Bacchae, as the translator set all of the chorus' words to rhyme, and I thought it was distracting.

This is one of those old books one might run across at a library sale or somewhere similar--I enjoyed it, and seeing how it probably cost me a quarter, I thought it was a great deal. But if anyone is interested in different translations, I would highly recommend searching out a copy of MacNeice's Agamemnon, especially if you've found some of the more popular translations difficult

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

CASCA: “…for my part, it was Greek to me.”

AESCHYLUS

Prometheus Bound
Translated by Rex Warner

Agamemnon
Translated by Louis MacNeice

SOPHOCLES

Antigone
Translated by Shaemas O’Sheel

Oedipus Rex
Translated by Albert Cook

Philoctetes
Translated by Kathleen Freeman

EURIPIDES

Alcestis
Translated by Richard Aldington

Suppliants
Translated by L. R. Lind

Andromache
Translated by L. R. Lind

Bacchae
Translated by Henry Birkhead

ARISTOPHANES

Lysistrata
Translated by Charles T. Murphy

[ñick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t speak to the quality of these translations compared to others, but I enjoyed this little survey of Greek drama. Seems to be intended for general-ed classics courses, and as someone whose general-ed classics course is pretty well in the rearview mirror at this point, I found the translations entertaining and the brief introductions to each play informative.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite's were Oedipus Rex and Lysistrata. Would like to see a live performance

[Beverly]

Alcestis is mirrored by The Silent Patient.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plays by Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, and Aristophanes.

Easy to read in contemporary translations. There is poetry and drama here as well as ribaldry. The tragedies get to be a bit heavy at times but these plays should be required reading for anyone interested in world literature and the classics.

[Emylie]

I've finished 7 of the 10. Antigone is probably my favourite so far...tbc.

[Rheannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got the best.