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All That You've Seen Here Is God: New Versions of Four Greek Tragedies Sophocles' Ajax, Philoctetes, Women of Trachis; Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound
These contemporary translations of four Greek tragedies speak across time and connect readers and audiences with universal themes of war, trauma, suffering, and betrayal. Under the direction of Bryan Doerries, they have been performed for tens of thousands of combat veterans, as well as prison and medical personnel around the world. Striking for their immediacy and emotional impact, Doerries brings to life these ancient plays, like no other translations have before.
474 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2015
42 people are currently reading
386 people want to read
About the author
Sophocles
2,617 books2,678 followersSophocles (497/496 BC-406/405 BC), (Greek:
Σοφοκλής
; German:
Sophokles
, Russian:
Софокл
, French:
Sophocle
) was an ancient Greek tragedian, known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, Women of Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost fifty years, Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens which took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in thirty competitions, won twenty-four, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won thirteen competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles; Euripides won four.
The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, though each was part of a different tetralogy (the other members of which are now lost). Sophocles influenced the development of drama, most importantly by adding a third actor (attributed to Sophocles by Aristotle; to Aeschylus by Themistius), thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights.
The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, though each was part of a different tetralogy (the other members of which are now lost). Sophocles influenced the development of drama, most importantly by adding a third actor (attributed to Sophocles by Aristotle; to Aeschylus by Themistius), thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 6, 2020
FREAKING BRILLIANT
I am hardly ever emotionally moved by introductions. In fact, I never used to read them. But in recent years I have started to take them more seriously. Sometimes reading them just to honor the author; and sometimes to just learn a little more about where the author is coming from and a little bit more about whats bopping around in his/her head.
The introduction to this book touched me. The author describes his own revelations as his works were presented to an audience of military families. He talks about how the meaning of Sophocle's words opened up to him as soldiers and family members, some of whom had never known of the plays previously, spoke with such familiarity about the themes. They had lived them. They understood them on a visceral, gut level.
TRANSLATION
Most students of any ancient language (and some modern ones) understand that there are two basic forms of translation. There is transliteration, where one just translates the words from language x into language y in the most accurate way possible, regardless of grammar; AND there is the literate translation. This latter requires more understanding of the first language because what one does is take the essence of what was meant by the original author, and one rephrases it to one's best ability for the modern target audience.
This author has chosen the second approach. He has rewritten the plays for we modern readers.
THE PLAYS
Readers need not fear these plays. The author gives a brilliant introduction to them, and then he presents them in modern language. I've read Sophocles at various times in my life (student and not), but I have to say that this is the first time I've delighted in him. What previously was a dour and academic activity has been transformed, for me, into something I cherish. Shallow being that I am. These plays are finally opened up for me. I finally 'get' what the master author was writing about.
So nothing short of a miracle. I now love Sophocles and when Mr. Doerries publishes his next set of plays I'll be one of the first, I hope, to have them on pre-order.
~Review copy provided
I am hardly ever emotionally moved by introductions. In fact, I never used to read them. But in recent years I have started to take them more seriously. Sometimes reading them just to honor the author; and sometimes to just learn a little more about where the author is coming from and a little bit more about whats bopping around in his/her head.
The introduction to this book touched me. The author describes his own revelations as his works were presented to an audience of military families. He talks about how the meaning of Sophocle's words opened up to him as soldiers and family members, some of whom had never known of the plays previously, spoke with such familiarity about the themes. They had lived them. They understood them on a visceral, gut level.
TRANSLATION
Most students of any ancient language (and some modern ones) understand that there are two basic forms of translation. There is transliteration, where one just translates the words from language x into language y in the most accurate way possible, regardless of grammar; AND there is the literate translation. This latter requires more understanding of the first language because what one does is take the essence of what was meant by the original author, and one rephrases it to one's best ability for the modern target audience.
This author has chosen the second approach. He has rewritten the plays for we modern readers.
THE PLAYS
Readers need not fear these plays. The author gives a brilliant introduction to them, and then he presents them in modern language. I've read Sophocles at various times in my life (student and not), but I have to say that this is the first time I've delighted in him. What previously was a dour and academic activity has been transformed, for me, into something I cherish. Shallow being that I am. These plays are finally opened up for me. I finally 'get' what the master author was writing about.
So nothing short of a miracle. I now love Sophocles and when Mr. Doerries publishes his next set of plays I'll be one of the first, I hope, to have them on pre-order.
~Review copy provided
November 29, 2015
CHORUS.
How many years
will it take for my
wandering to end,
and when will this
relentless battle
on the outskirts
of Troy with its
countless terrors
and unending
violence finally
come to an end,
even if it means
the Greeks will
be defeated?
I wish the Man
behind it all,
the Architect
of War, had
vanished or
perished before
he gave us
the tools to kill
and taught us
how to use them.
He has robbed
me of flowers
and large bowls
of wine, and
the sound of
sweet music.
He has destroyed
my friendships,
taken away my
ability to sleep,
and cut off my
heart from all
feeling, numbing
me to love or
being loved.
He has left me
out in the cold
waiting to die,
lost and shivering
on distant shores.
I used to feel safe
from covert attacks
and night terrors,
when Ajax still
lived and served
as my shield.
But now that he lies
here dead on the ground,
what happiness is left
for me in this world?
I wish I were standing
on the thick-wooded
cliff of Cape Sounion,
which overlooks the sea,
so I could shout hello
to sacred Athens.
—Ajax, Sophocles, a new translation by Bryan Doerries
How many years
will it take for my
wandering to end,
and when will this
relentless battle
on the outskirts
of Troy with its
countless terrors
and unending
violence finally
come to an end,
even if it means
the Greeks will
be defeated?
I wish the Man
behind it all,
the Architect
of War, had
vanished or
perished before
he gave us
the tools to kill
and taught us
how to use them.
He has robbed
me of flowers
and large bowls
of wine, and
the sound of
sweet music.
He has destroyed
my friendships,
taken away my
ability to sleep,
and cut off my
heart from all
feeling, numbing
me to love or
being loved.
He has left me
out in the cold
waiting to die,
lost and shivering
on distant shores.
I used to feel safe
from covert attacks
and night terrors,
when Ajax still
lived and served
as my shield.
But now that he lies
here dead on the ground,
what happiness is left
for me in this world?
I wish I were standing
on the thick-wooded
cliff of Cape Sounion,
which overlooks the sea,
so I could shout hello
to sacred Athens.
—Ajax, Sophocles, a new translation by Bryan Doerries
October 13, 2016
I read Sophocles' Ajax and Philoctetes for class. They are rewritten for ease of understanding by Doerries. I liked both plays, but they are VERY modern versions and I felt I was missing out on the original text.
It's something I enjoyed reading, though I wouldn't have read it otherwise. Mainly a quick way to understand Sophocles' plays. Great for comprehension in school, or for someone intent on reading Sophocles' plays without having to deal with the heavy language. I give it ★★★☆☆.
Happy Reading!!
It's something I enjoyed reading, though I wouldn't have read it otherwise. Mainly a quick way to understand Sophocles' plays. Great for comprehension in school, or for someone intent on reading Sophocles' plays without having to deal with the heavy language. I give it ★★★☆☆.
Happy Reading!!
August 5, 2020
Ok so look. Ajax and Philoctetes are quite good. But I don't know if Bryan has a problem writing women or writing plays that aren't about war, but I'm leaning toward the former because hooo boy reading Io and the Chorus in Prometheus bound was painful and Women of Trachis straight up didn't get good until after Deianeira was dead and that's a crying shame because Women of Trachis and Prometheus Bound are a really good plays.
February 27, 2025
All That You've Seen Here Is God includes modern translations of four Greek tragedies, dating back to 5th century BCE. While written over a thousand years ago, these tragedies depict several themes relevant to this very day, including: grief, war, honor, integrity, suicide, trauma, suffering, civil disobedience, incarceration, infidelity, and euthanasia - amongst many others. What follows is a 10,000-foot summation of each tragedy as well as a few notable quotes from them.
Ajax, by Sophocles
Ajax depicts the rapid degeneration of one of the strongest Greek warriors during the final year of the Trojan War. Ajax was both cousin and friend to Achilles. By some accounts, he was the one who carried Achilles’ body off the battlefield. Given their relationship, it was widely expected that Ajax would receive Achilles’ armor – a high honor and a sacred ritual of mourning. Instead, brother Kings Agamemnon and Menelaus decide to host a series of war games to boost troop morale, awarding Achilles’ armor to the victor. One of the contests was writing and delivering a speech. While Ajax was physically superior on the battlefield, he was not a man of words. Only able to conjure the words, “I am Ajax,” he embarrassed himself in front of the Greek army. The armor was then awarded to Odysseus, Chief Advisor to Agamemnon; someone who never laid his life on the line in battle. To Ajax, this was a “betrayal of the highest order,” robbing him of “his sense of honor, his identity, and – most important – his ability to grieve.” In a blind rage, Ajax goes on a killing spree, slaughtering cattle he believes to be Odysseus and others who’ve wronged him. Ajax later commits suicide, impaling himself with the sword of Hector, Prince of Troy.
"He was the one you
sent overseas to win
the war with over-
whelming force.
Now he is alone."
-Chorus (Fellow soldiers of Ajax)
"Tell me. Given
the choice, which
would you prefer:
happiness while
your friends are
in pain or to share
in their suffering?"
-Tecmessa (Ajax’s wife)
Philoctetes, by Sophocles
After Paris, a Prince of Troy, has an illicit affair with the wife of King Menelaus, the Greeks declared war. In doing so, they launched 1,000 ships under the guidance of combat veteran Philoctetes. Half-way to Troy, Philoctetes advises the fleet to dock at Lemnos, a remote island, to wait out a storm. While there, Philoctetes was bitten by a poisonous snake. For three days, he writhed in pain and called for mercy, to no avail. Borther Kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, with the counsel of Odysseus, decide to abandon Philoctetes on the island and forge ahead to Troy.
Philoctetes watched as his own men sailed away, leaving him for dead. For 9 years, he survived in isolation on the island, surviving on herbs and wild game, the latter of which was made possible by a bow gifted to him by Heracles, the greatest of all Greek heroes. After waging a seemingly unwinnable war for 9 continuous years, the Greeks capture a Trojan seer, Helenus, who foretold that victory was only possible for the Greeks if they were to sail to Lemnos, retrieve Philoctetes and his bow, and return to Troy.
Neoptolemus, a son of Achilles (and whose name is Greek for “new to war”), joins the expedition and is later tested by Odysseus, who orders him to betray the wounded warrior, Philoctetes, and to steal his bow. Odysseus, knowing the bow is the only path to salvation for the Greeks, is unashamed of the low tactics he embraces. Philoctetes, on the other hand, could care less about serving Agamemnon and Menelaus. After all, they left him for dead nearly a decade earlier. Philoctetes and Neoptolemus are ultimately bound together, later swearing an oath to one another as they sail for Troy following a convincing apparition of Heracles.
"They sent me to help
you, sir, but I would
rather die honestly
than win deceitfully."
-Neoptolemus
"I am wretched, hated
by the gods, if men
don't know my story."
-Philoctetes
"I am not sorry
to have met you,
my newest friend.
More valuable than
any material possession
is your humanity."
-Neoptolemus (speaking to Philoctetes)
"You and I share
a common destiny.
Through suffering,
you, like me,
will achieve greatness."
-Heracles (speaking to Philoctetes)
Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus
Prometheus Bound is about a god who is imprisoned for stealing fire and giving it to man. For his crimes, the gods sentence him severely, incarcerating him in extreme isolation at the end of the earth for eternity.
Prometheus, Greek for “Forethought,” is an immortal god. During the War of the Titans, he trades sides, turning on his own blood relatives (the Titans) to serve the Olympians, under Zeus. With Prometheus’s help, the Olympians defeat the Titans, locking them away in the depths of the underworld. After winning the war, Zeus enacts a series of decrees the immediately prompt Prometheus to regret his decisions, including an edict to exterminate the mortal human race. Prometheus, unwilling to watch this genocide unfold, gives fire to man and teaches them how to use it. For his subversion, he is detained, bound by unbreakable chains, and crucified against a rock face in remote lands for eternity.
"Minutes will seem
like hours, hours
like days, days
like years, as the un-
relenting torture
wears you down...
This is what
you get for your com-
passion.
I hate
my hands
for what
they must do."
-Hephaestus
"Prometheus,
I groan with
you, as if your
pain were mine."
-Hephaestus
"How can you
witness his
pain and not
avert your eyes."
-Hephaestus (to Prometheus's guards)
"Only I dared
defend them,
standing him
down, holding
my ground.
(Later)
I treated men
with compassion
but was not thought
worthy enough to
receive it in return.
(And later, still)
My punishment
is a disgrace
to the one who
punishes me."
-Prometheus
"Witness the injustice
of my suffering!"
-Prometheus
Women of Trachis, by Sophocles
Women of Trachis charts the fall of Heracles (also known as Hercules), son of Zeus and the greatest of all Greek heroes.
Heracles's birth blurred the line between human and godliness when Zeus and a mortal woman, Alcmene, conceived him. Queen Hera, Zeus's wife, in a jealous rage causes Heracles to go mad and kill his wife and child in a deranged and dissociative state. As punishment for the murders, Heracles was sentenced by Apollo to serve as slave to King Eurystheus, who assigns him 12 labors, one more impossible than the next (e.g., bringing the three-headed hound, Cerberus, back from the underworld). An oracle foretold that if Heracles could complete all twelve labors, that he would become a god.
Heracles miraculously completes his labors, earns his freedom, and marries Deianeira, who bore him several children. Heracles, now a god, continues to pursue his destiny in war around the world. Before leaving for his latest campaign, Heracles predicted that something terrible would happen if he didn't return before long.
Heracles wages war for over a year, against a King who refuses to give Heracles (already married) his daughter's hand. Heracles, in maddening lust of the girl, takes her captive and sets out to destroy her home.
Deianeira, aware of Heracles lust for the princess, soaks a robe with potion purposed to prevent Heracles from ever falling in love with another woman. The potion was given to her by a centaur in his dying act, after Heracles fells him with his bow. The centaur, however, was deceitful, instead seeking his revenge from the afterlife. The potion turned the gift from Deianeira into a robe of death such that, once Heracles draped it from his shoulders, it clung to his skin and venom raced through his veins. When she realizes what she's done to her one true love, Deianeira loses the will to live and kills herself.
"In the throes of immeasurable pain - more than any other man or woman could withstand - the hero begs his son to be his 'doctor' by helping him die in a fiery blaze atop Mount Oeta." Hyllus, son of Heracles, wishes to honor his father, to comfort him in his time of pain, but to be loyal to his father would mean he must betray himself.
"No one can know
whether his life
has amounted
to anything or
whether it was
worth all the pain
until he is dead."
-Deianeira
"[F]or the son of Kronos,
who rules the universe,
has ordered that mortals
live through cycles of
pleasure and pain, horror
and joy, anxiety and relief
over the long span of their
lives, like constellations
spinning in the night sky.
Nothing is permanent:
neither night nor
death nor prosperity
nor sorrow nor elation.
They are here one moment.
In an instant, they are gone."
-Chorus
"Take in
the damage
done by
the disease
to my
tormented
body, gaze
upon a
patient
in pain."
-Heracles
"I am asking you
to be my doctor.
Heal this affliction!
Cure my disease!"
-Heracles (to his son, Hyllas, asking him to help him die)
"If I am loyal
to you, then
I am disloyal
to myself and
my sense for
what is right."
-Hyllus
"My friends,
you have seen
many strange things:
countless deaths,
new kinds of torture,
immeasurable pain,
and all that you've
seen here is god."
-Chorus
Overall
All That You've Seen Here Is God is incredibly readable. You do not have to be a student of history to read and enjoy these plays. My hat is off to author Bryan Doerries. Not only does he provide solid introductions of each ancient work, he offers commentary on their modern day parallels, as he himself has witnessed in bringing reenactments of the same to military service members, correctional officers, medical professionals, and more.
5 out of 5
Ajax, by Sophocles
Ajax depicts the rapid degeneration of one of the strongest Greek warriors during the final year of the Trojan War. Ajax was both cousin and friend to Achilles. By some accounts, he was the one who carried Achilles’ body off the battlefield. Given their relationship, it was widely expected that Ajax would receive Achilles’ armor – a high honor and a sacred ritual of mourning. Instead, brother Kings Agamemnon and Menelaus decide to host a series of war games to boost troop morale, awarding Achilles’ armor to the victor. One of the contests was writing and delivering a speech. While Ajax was physically superior on the battlefield, he was not a man of words. Only able to conjure the words, “I am Ajax,” he embarrassed himself in front of the Greek army. The armor was then awarded to Odysseus, Chief Advisor to Agamemnon; someone who never laid his life on the line in battle. To Ajax, this was a “betrayal of the highest order,” robbing him of “his sense of honor, his identity, and – most important – his ability to grieve.” In a blind rage, Ajax goes on a killing spree, slaughtering cattle he believes to be Odysseus and others who’ve wronged him. Ajax later commits suicide, impaling himself with the sword of Hector, Prince of Troy.
"He was the one you
sent overseas to win
the war with over-
whelming force.
Now he is alone."
-Chorus (Fellow soldiers of Ajax)
"Tell me. Given
the choice, which
would you prefer:
happiness while
your friends are
in pain or to share
in their suffering?"
-Tecmessa (Ajax’s wife)
Philoctetes, by Sophocles
After Paris, a Prince of Troy, has an illicit affair with the wife of King Menelaus, the Greeks declared war. In doing so, they launched 1,000 ships under the guidance of combat veteran Philoctetes. Half-way to Troy, Philoctetes advises the fleet to dock at Lemnos, a remote island, to wait out a storm. While there, Philoctetes was bitten by a poisonous snake. For three days, he writhed in pain and called for mercy, to no avail. Borther Kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, with the counsel of Odysseus, decide to abandon Philoctetes on the island and forge ahead to Troy.
Philoctetes watched as his own men sailed away, leaving him for dead. For 9 years, he survived in isolation on the island, surviving on herbs and wild game, the latter of which was made possible by a bow gifted to him by Heracles, the greatest of all Greek heroes. After waging a seemingly unwinnable war for 9 continuous years, the Greeks capture a Trojan seer, Helenus, who foretold that victory was only possible for the Greeks if they were to sail to Lemnos, retrieve Philoctetes and his bow, and return to Troy.
Neoptolemus, a son of Achilles (and whose name is Greek for “new to war”), joins the expedition and is later tested by Odysseus, who orders him to betray the wounded warrior, Philoctetes, and to steal his bow. Odysseus, knowing the bow is the only path to salvation for the Greeks, is unashamed of the low tactics he embraces. Philoctetes, on the other hand, could care less about serving Agamemnon and Menelaus. After all, they left him for dead nearly a decade earlier. Philoctetes and Neoptolemus are ultimately bound together, later swearing an oath to one another as they sail for Troy following a convincing apparition of Heracles.
"They sent me to help
you, sir, but I would
rather die honestly
than win deceitfully."
-Neoptolemus
"I am wretched, hated
by the gods, if men
don't know my story."
-Philoctetes
"I am not sorry
to have met you,
my newest friend.
More valuable than
any material possession
is your humanity."
-Neoptolemus (speaking to Philoctetes)
"You and I share
a common destiny.
Through suffering,
you, like me,
will achieve greatness."
-Heracles (speaking to Philoctetes)
Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus
Prometheus Bound is about a god who is imprisoned for stealing fire and giving it to man. For his crimes, the gods sentence him severely, incarcerating him in extreme isolation at the end of the earth for eternity.
Prometheus, Greek for “Forethought,” is an immortal god. During the War of the Titans, he trades sides, turning on his own blood relatives (the Titans) to serve the Olympians, under Zeus. With Prometheus’s help, the Olympians defeat the Titans, locking them away in the depths of the underworld. After winning the war, Zeus enacts a series of decrees the immediately prompt Prometheus to regret his decisions, including an edict to exterminate the mortal human race. Prometheus, unwilling to watch this genocide unfold, gives fire to man and teaches them how to use it. For his subversion, he is detained, bound by unbreakable chains, and crucified against a rock face in remote lands for eternity.
"Minutes will seem
like hours, hours
like days, days
like years, as the un-
relenting torture
wears you down...
This is what
you get for your com-
passion.
I hate
my hands
for what
they must do."
-Hephaestus
"Prometheus,
I groan with
you, as if your
pain were mine."
-Hephaestus
"How can you
witness his
pain and not
avert your eyes."
-Hephaestus (to Prometheus's guards)
"Only I dared
defend them,
standing him
down, holding
my ground.
(Later)
I treated men
with compassion
but was not thought
worthy enough to
receive it in return.
(And later, still)
My punishment
is a disgrace
to the one who
punishes me."
-Prometheus
"Witness the injustice
of my suffering!"
-Prometheus
Women of Trachis, by Sophocles
Women of Trachis charts the fall of Heracles (also known as Hercules), son of Zeus and the greatest of all Greek heroes.
Heracles's birth blurred the line between human and godliness when Zeus and a mortal woman, Alcmene, conceived him. Queen Hera, Zeus's wife, in a jealous rage causes Heracles to go mad and kill his wife and child in a deranged and dissociative state. As punishment for the murders, Heracles was sentenced by Apollo to serve as slave to King Eurystheus, who assigns him 12 labors, one more impossible than the next (e.g., bringing the three-headed hound, Cerberus, back from the underworld). An oracle foretold that if Heracles could complete all twelve labors, that he would become a god.
Heracles miraculously completes his labors, earns his freedom, and marries Deianeira, who bore him several children. Heracles, now a god, continues to pursue his destiny in war around the world. Before leaving for his latest campaign, Heracles predicted that something terrible would happen if he didn't return before long.
Heracles wages war for over a year, against a King who refuses to give Heracles (already married) his daughter's hand. Heracles, in maddening lust of the girl, takes her captive and sets out to destroy her home.
Deianeira, aware of Heracles lust for the princess, soaks a robe with potion purposed to prevent Heracles from ever falling in love with another woman. The potion was given to her by a centaur in his dying act, after Heracles fells him with his bow. The centaur, however, was deceitful, instead seeking his revenge from the afterlife. The potion turned the gift from Deianeira into a robe of death such that, once Heracles draped it from his shoulders, it clung to his skin and venom raced through his veins. When she realizes what she's done to her one true love, Deianeira loses the will to live and kills herself.
"In the throes of immeasurable pain - more than any other man or woman could withstand - the hero begs his son to be his 'doctor' by helping him die in a fiery blaze atop Mount Oeta." Hyllus, son of Heracles, wishes to honor his father, to comfort him in his time of pain, but to be loyal to his father would mean he must betray himself.
"No one can know
whether his life
has amounted
to anything or
whether it was
worth all the pain
until he is dead."
-Deianeira
"[F]or the son of Kronos,
who rules the universe,
has ordered that mortals
live through cycles of
pleasure and pain, horror
and joy, anxiety and relief
over the long span of their
lives, like constellations
spinning in the night sky.
Nothing is permanent:
neither night nor
death nor prosperity
nor sorrow nor elation.
They are here one moment.
In an instant, they are gone."
-Chorus
"Take in
the damage
done by
the disease
to my
tormented
body, gaze
upon a
patient
in pain."
-Heracles
"I am asking you
to be my doctor.
Heal this affliction!
Cure my disease!"
-Heracles (to his son, Hyllas, asking him to help him die)
"If I am loyal
to you, then
I am disloyal
to myself and
my sense for
what is right."
-Hyllus
"My friends,
you have seen
many strange things:
countless deaths,
new kinds of torture,
immeasurable pain,
and all that you've
seen here is god."
-Chorus
Overall
All That You've Seen Here Is God is incredibly readable. You do not have to be a student of history to read and enjoy these plays. My hat is off to author Bryan Doerries. Not only does he provide solid introductions of each ancient work, he offers commentary on their modern day parallels, as he himself has witnessed in bringing reenactments of the same to military service members, correctional officers, medical professionals, and more.
5 out of 5
February 10, 2019
Definitely an accessible read and good way to understand the gist of Greek tragedies, but i felt that it was insufficient. Granted, the author does mention that he cuts out lots of parts to make it simpler. However, I found it slightly too easy and even the script seemed a bit unrefined (for instance, the unnecessary and excessive bits of “AAAH” to convey Prometheus screaming could have been put as stage directions for the actor to howl in anguish instead, which would make for a better read in my opinion).
🌹date read: 29 jan 2019 🌹
🌹date read: 29 jan 2019 🌹
May 18, 2019
3.5 stars - these translations would be great for teaching, and I loved the intros to each of the 4 plays and how they show the subject matter is still so relevant thousands of years later. However, I think I miss some of the more poetic language that I’d find in older translations. I appreciate the clarity, but they read a little like ‘No Fear Shakespeare.’ I think if I was considering staging any of these plays, I’d go for a different translation, but still a decent read.
November 24, 2018
I do not recommend this translation.
The language is simplistic and in an attempt to be more accessible is perhaps too modern.
The language is simplistic and in an attempt to be more accessible is perhaps too modern.
March 6, 2016
I enjoyed reading every bit of this book. The translation made the plays accessible and the brief notes before the plays guided my approach to the text in ways I may not have previously considered. Likening these texts to modern issues such as PTSD in the military, the handling of personal grief, and euthanasia made the texts even more relevant today. The language and imagery are beautiful.
I read an individual play from the book each weekend and I found myself reflecting on what I read all week. In this way, while I read the next week's work, I processed and compared them more clearly.
There are many times in my life I get caught in a spiral of reading fast, fluff fiction as a reprieve and as escapism from the work on which I focus each week. Periodically, I read books like this which remind me of the reasons I originally became devoted to reading: stories, old or new, which draw you into their world and leave you feeling changed a bit from who you were just by the process of reading and reflecting, books which connect us with others and the text, binding humans together through the process of thinking and contemplation and the emphasis we place on life, its meaning and purpose, and our role in it.
I read an individual play from the book each weekend and I found myself reflecting on what I read all week. In this way, while I read the next week's work, I processed and compared them more clearly.
There are many times in my life I get caught in a spiral of reading fast, fluff fiction as a reprieve and as escapism from the work on which I focus each week. Periodically, I read books like this which remind me of the reasons I originally became devoted to reading: stories, old or new, which draw you into their world and leave you feeling changed a bit from who you were just by the process of reading and reflecting, books which connect us with others and the text, binding humans together through the process of thinking and contemplation and the emphasis we place on life, its meaning and purpose, and our role in it.
April 7, 2024
Contextualized these plays beautifully! I wish I had a book like this for all the Greek plays! Highly recommend for beginners and experienced readers alike.
July 25, 2023
Translated by Bryan Doerries, this volume contains "Ajax," "Philoctetes," and "Women of Trachis" by Sophocles, and "Prometheus Bound" by Aeschylus. I normally don't review compilations as a whole, preferring to deal with each text as its own work. However, this book is heralded as a new contemporary translation meant to "connect audiences [particularly combat veterans] with universal themes of war, suffering, and betrayal." Doerries' note about his translation says that he sees his work as providing a foothold in the original language and culture, not as transforming Greek to English. He wants the translation to be sparse and pressing, "inviting [the audience] to complete the translation by exploring the urgent need for the words to be spoken now." I am of course in no position to judge Doerries' translations. His prose, though, is easy to read and he successfully imparts deep, raw emotion into the lines. The chopped formatting, with every sentence cut every four or five words into short lines and left-justified, is a bit off-putting.
In "Ajax," the strongest Greek warrior obsesses over his defeat by Odysseus for the right to claim Achilles' armor. In a fury he attempts to kill the other Greek generals, but Athena makes him think that cows are the Greeks and he eviscerates them instead. Filled with shame, he kills himself. This, I think, is the best of the four plays in terms of what Doerries is trying to do; Ajax's madness is easily identifiable by the modern soldier as PTSD, and his suicide is all too common a story. The inevitable tragic ending colors the play from the very beginning as the characters hurtle toward it.
In "Philoctetes," Odysseus and Neoptolemus go to an island where the titular archer, Philoctetes, was abandoned years earlier at the start of the Trojan War. He had an infected snake bite on his foot that rendered him delirious with pain, which apparently so discomfited the Greeks that they left him there and sailed on. Now, Odysseus has returned to get the archer's magic bow so they can conquer Troy. He wants Neoptolemus to get the bow through trickery or force, but the younger soldier doesn't want to lie. It's an interesting play that deals with military honor and the ethics of what we consider justified to end a war, but Doerries' main concern here, I think, is the dreadful wound and what it does to a soldier, "a dark red sign of evil things to come." The language when Philoctetes' pain is spoken of is brutal and unnerving.
In Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound," the titular titan is sentenced by Zeus to solitary confinement, chained to a cliff at the end of the earth, for giving fire to mortals. Prometheus inveighs against the injustice of Zeus. He is visited by Oceanus (who urges humility), Io (who is being tormented by Zeus as well), and Hermes (who argues submission to force). I came away from this play stunned by its raw power; Doerries' intention is to fuse this ancient text with the suffering of the incarcerated millions of today, and it does hit hard.
Last, Sophocles' "Women of Trachis" continues the theme of people screaming and writhing in agony. Heracles, burning from the poisoned cloak his wife unknowingly gave him, demands his son Hyllus kill him to end his agony. Here, Doerries' concern is the ethics of trauma and euthanasia. I am not convinced that this play gives us the tools to find connection and meaning in death, especially a traumatic, too-early death, but Doerries' skill as a dramatist certainly makes it difficult to turn away from the problem the play presents.
In "Ajax," the strongest Greek warrior obsesses over his defeat by Odysseus for the right to claim Achilles' armor. In a fury he attempts to kill the other Greek generals, but Athena makes him think that cows are the Greeks and he eviscerates them instead. Filled with shame, he kills himself. This, I think, is the best of the four plays in terms of what Doerries is trying to do; Ajax's madness is easily identifiable by the modern soldier as PTSD, and his suicide is all too common a story. The inevitable tragic ending colors the play from the very beginning as the characters hurtle toward it.
In "Philoctetes," Odysseus and Neoptolemus go to an island where the titular archer, Philoctetes, was abandoned years earlier at the start of the Trojan War. He had an infected snake bite on his foot that rendered him delirious with pain, which apparently so discomfited the Greeks that they left him there and sailed on. Now, Odysseus has returned to get the archer's magic bow so they can conquer Troy. He wants Neoptolemus to get the bow through trickery or force, but the younger soldier doesn't want to lie. It's an interesting play that deals with military honor and the ethics of what we consider justified to end a war, but Doerries' main concern here, I think, is the dreadful wound and what it does to a soldier, "a dark red sign of evil things to come." The language when Philoctetes' pain is spoken of is brutal and unnerving.
In Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound," the titular titan is sentenced by Zeus to solitary confinement, chained to a cliff at the end of the earth, for giving fire to mortals. Prometheus inveighs against the injustice of Zeus. He is visited by Oceanus (who urges humility), Io (who is being tormented by Zeus as well), and Hermes (who argues submission to force). I came away from this play stunned by its raw power; Doerries' intention is to fuse this ancient text with the suffering of the incarcerated millions of today, and it does hit hard.
Last, Sophocles' "Women of Trachis" continues the theme of people screaming and writhing in agony. Heracles, burning from the poisoned cloak his wife unknowingly gave him, demands his son Hyllus kill him to end his agony. Here, Doerries' concern is the ethics of trauma and euthanasia. I am not convinced that this play gives us the tools to find connection and meaning in death, especially a traumatic, too-early death, but Doerries' skill as a dramatist certainly makes it difficult to turn away from the problem the play presents.
September 20, 2025
Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, Promētheus Desmōtēs
First of all, I was not keen on the play, albeit the myth is intriguing.
Therefore, if you wish any opinion on this play, you should look for authorized sources, especially since this is a note more on the idea, than the play itself.
On one hand, Prometheus is celebrated and still in vogue somehow. There was a blockbuster movie with that name, made only recently. It was a Hollywood mega production, with big names and similar production costs, but I am not sure if and how big a profit they have generated.
The buzz was there. I was in a Jacuzzi, downtown, when a weird guy started talking about…Prometheus. At first, I was not sure what Prometheus has to do with this man whose only occupations seem to be to work out and talk nonsense.
I had known him for a while and he is a medical case. The first time he had started talking, I was with Emi and he baffled us, with his boasting that he knows where the forefathers of Dracula are, he’d been offered a couple of million dollars for the thing, but he turned the offer down. After which, in various places (sauna, Jacuzzi) he would go on:
- I have a plan for the state TV to reach 30% audience (they have like 0.3 and nobody comes even close to his plan, which is plain crazy)
- I am involved in activities in Poland, with hotels and stuff
- The EU is funding my project to have more (or less- I forgot which, but is irrelevant) minority children
So the question is-
- Why would Prometheus go to such lengths and trouble to help people like Nutcase get fire?
It all sounds great, generous and valiant, but still: why do it?
Isn’t it a bit like me saying-?
- Ok people, I want to give guns to the ants?
Why care about another species and go against your own.
This is why writing helps. It gives you answers that you do not find otherwise.
The question and answer can be different:
- It is like helping animals, when humans ignore, torture and eat them
Like the Gods, most of the people still do not get why we should treat animals better. Indeed, I remember a few Seinfeld jokes, which although good, point out the cruelty and indifference that even the brightest guys have towards other beings:
- If aliens look from space and see humans with dogs, dragged by the animals and taking with bags their poop, they would be sure that dogs rule the world.
The other has to do with the tuna sandwiches, which Elaine shuns on account of the dolphins caught in the fishing nets. Seinfeld has an attitude which seems to suggest –
- What the hell, I couldn’t care less, if I am not mistaken
Anyway, thank you Prometheus.
You can read this online, or download it legally at the Gutenberg Project site, or here:
http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/pro...
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, Promētheus Desmōtēs
First of all, I was not keen on the play, albeit the myth is intriguing.
Therefore, if you wish any opinion on this play, you should look for authorized sources, especially since this is a note more on the idea, than the play itself.
On one hand, Prometheus is celebrated and still in vogue somehow. There was a blockbuster movie with that name, made only recently. It was a Hollywood mega production, with big names and similar production costs, but I am not sure if and how big a profit they have generated.
The buzz was there. I was in a Jacuzzi, downtown, when a weird guy started talking about…Prometheus. At first, I was not sure what Prometheus has to do with this man whose only occupations seem to be to work out and talk nonsense.
I had known him for a while and he is a medical case. The first time he had started talking, I was with Emi and he baffled us, with his boasting that he knows where the forefathers of Dracula are, he’d been offered a couple of million dollars for the thing, but he turned the offer down. After which, in various places (sauna, Jacuzzi) he would go on:
- I have a plan for the state TV to reach 30% audience (they have like 0.3 and nobody comes even close to his plan, which is plain crazy)
- I am involved in activities in Poland, with hotels and stuff
- The EU is funding my project to have more (or less- I forgot which, but is irrelevant) minority children
So the question is-
- Why would Prometheus go to such lengths and trouble to help people like Nutcase get fire?
It all sounds great, generous and valiant, but still: why do it?
Isn’t it a bit like me saying-?
- Ok people, I want to give guns to the ants?
Why care about another species and go against your own.
This is why writing helps. It gives you answers that you do not find otherwise.
The question and answer can be different:
- It is like helping animals, when humans ignore, torture and eat them
Like the Gods, most of the people still do not get why we should treat animals better. Indeed, I remember a few Seinfeld jokes, which although good, point out the cruelty and indifference that even the brightest guys have towards other beings:
- If aliens look from space and see humans with dogs, dragged by the animals and taking with bags their poop, they would be sure that dogs rule the world.
The other has to do with the tuna sandwiches, which Elaine shuns on account of the dolphins caught in the fishing nets. Seinfeld has an attitude which seems to suggest –
- What the hell, I couldn’t care less, if I am not mistaken
Anyway, thank you Prometheus.
You can read this online, or download it legally at the Gutenberg Project site, or here:
http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/pro...
February 24, 2022
“All That You’ve Seen Here is God” is a collection of four ancient Athenian tragedies—Prometheus Bound and Sophocles’ Ajax, Philoctetes, and Women of Trachis—translated and introduced by Bryan Doerries. In addition to being a translator, Doerries is a writer and director who founded Theater of War and co-founded Outside the Wire. Both are theater projects that offer readings of Athenian tragedies to address public health issues impacting war veterans and their families as well as concerning prison reform, domestic violence, and substance abuse, among others. Doerries describes himself as an “evangelist for classical literature and its relevance to our lives today.” He believes that it can, now as in ancient times, provide a conduit through which “individuals and communities can heal from suffering and loss.”
Doerries does not strive to translate line by line, and he does not include either line references or notes. His introduction to the collection is a brief essay entitled “The Audience as Translator,” in which he describes how audience members have connected to characters in the plays and their experiences and how audience feedback influenced his translations. Introductions to each play do likewise. It is this ethos of storytelling as a communal detoxifier and balm that he strives to capture and carry on through his collection. It can be easy to forget, reading translations of scripts, that ancient tragedies were performed in a sacred context, to promote public health. Doerries continually reminds readers of this. His translations are elegant, in a contemporary but not trendy register.
One reason I treasured this collection as deeply as I did is that Doerries does not compete with the ancient texts. If he strays from them, it is not to glorify himself as a poet or playwright or to promote an ideological agenda that has nothing to do with the ancients. As we know, every translation involves a degree of interpretation. Here, Doerries draws out the tragedies’ timeless dimensions, the grief and sorrow that humanity cannot outrun, to alleviate human suffering. I highly recommend this collection.
Doerries does not strive to translate line by line, and he does not include either line references or notes. His introduction to the collection is a brief essay entitled “The Audience as Translator,” in which he describes how audience members have connected to characters in the plays and their experiences and how audience feedback influenced his translations. Introductions to each play do likewise. It is this ethos of storytelling as a communal detoxifier and balm that he strives to capture and carry on through his collection. It can be easy to forget, reading translations of scripts, that ancient tragedies were performed in a sacred context, to promote public health. Doerries continually reminds readers of this. His translations are elegant, in a contemporary but not trendy register.
One reason I treasured this collection as deeply as I did is that Doerries does not compete with the ancient texts. If he strays from them, it is not to glorify himself as a poet or playwright or to promote an ideological agenda that has nothing to do with the ancients. As we know, every translation involves a degree of interpretation. Here, Doerries draws out the tragedies’ timeless dimensions, the grief and sorrow that humanity cannot outrun, to alleviate human suffering. I highly recommend this collection.
May 28, 2024
I'm continuing my slow journey through some great books, currently Sophocles.
Bryan Doerries is the founder of the Theater of War project, "that presents readings of ancient Greek plays to service members, veterans, caregivers, and families to help them initiate conversations about the visible and invisible wounds of war." I first heard of Doerries while reading The Body Keeps the Score, when VDK was explaining how drama can sometimes help in recovering from trauma. When it was time to read some Sophocles, I jumped on this translation of 3 of his plays (and a re-read of Aeschylus, Prometheus).
The stories are classics, and I recommend reading these after the Iliad and the Odyssey so that you at least have a basic frame of reference for the characters. Has anyone compared the way different poets told and re-told versions of these stories with the way the MCU does spin-offs, and different directors takes on the same characters?
I was struck re-reading Prometheus by how easy it is for our modern culture to cast the Christian God as Zeus and whatever thwarted protagonist you want (Satan;,) as Prometheus, and what a subtly appealing but deeply distorted vision of justice and goodness that is. A fascinating line to be developed sometime...
Anyway, eager, now, to read Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. Also, moving on to the most famous of Sophocles plays, the Oedipus Trilogy.
Bryan Doerries is the founder of the Theater of War project, "that presents readings of ancient Greek plays to service members, veterans, caregivers, and families to help them initiate conversations about the visible and invisible wounds of war." I first heard of Doerries while reading The Body Keeps the Score, when VDK was explaining how drama can sometimes help in recovering from trauma. When it was time to read some Sophocles, I jumped on this translation of 3 of his plays (and a re-read of Aeschylus, Prometheus).
The stories are classics, and I recommend reading these after the Iliad and the Odyssey so that you at least have a basic frame of reference for the characters. Has anyone compared the way different poets told and re-told versions of these stories with the way the MCU does spin-offs, and different directors takes on the same characters?
I was struck re-reading Prometheus by how easy it is for our modern culture to cast the Christian God as Zeus and whatever thwarted protagonist you want (Satan;,) as Prometheus, and what a subtly appealing but deeply distorted vision of justice and goodness that is. A fascinating line to be developed sometime...
Anyway, eager, now, to read Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. Also, moving on to the most famous of Sophocles plays, the Oedipus Trilogy.
October 15, 2018
My friends,
you have seen
many strange things:
countless deaths,
new kinds of torture,
immeasurable pain,
and all that you've
seen here is god.
Terrible; brutal; spare.
Read this while thinking about the cost of war on warriors. Strongly recommend to readers that gravitate towards titles about war and revolution, about systemic and individual violence; veterans; family members of warriors. Doerries's translations are beautiful, and sometimes hard to stomach as he balances of the [modern] concepts of duty, honor, violence and consequences through a greek foil - a culture which had very different values than ours. Who is responsible for what in warrior culture? The person that does the deeds or the person that commands him? Etc.
My favorite translations were "Ajax" and "Women of Trachis" by Sophocles. "Prometheus Bound" by Aeschylus was hard for me, but thought provoking. Read in its entirety, and haven't enjoyed a book of Greek plays this much since Anne Carson. But different, very different.
It isn't a book about pacifism, or the terror of war. It is more about the way one would think to become an instrument of war. and what you lose and what rules you would begin to play by if you did.
August 29, 2024
A really profoundly beautiful set of translations by Doerries, paired with poignant but concise commentary on how he has seen the plays applied in every day life. His translations are concise, accessible, and to the point, bringing new light to ancient texts. I was particularly touched by Philoctetes (the story of a chronically ill and disabled soldier abandoned) and Prometheus Bound (a great criticism of the punitive justice system, bearing the question at what point does the punishment go beyond the crime). He also helped me discover a newfound hatred for Odysseseus, who's faults really shine through in Doerries' words. Would love to see these texts with the audiences they were meant to engage.
January 18, 2024
After reading Bryan Doerries book, Theater of War, I knew I had to read his translations. These translations were suuuper contemporary. Some might argue that it takes away from the original meaning behind Sophocles’ and Aeschylus’ plays, but I disagree. I think Doerries has enough of a deeper understanding of these works that he makes them more relatable for our time. I can’t wait to read his Oedipus Trilogy.
September 8, 2017
Really excellent, compelling, lean translations of ancient plays, brought up to date and brought home for the modern world. Doerries' introductions put a modern context on these works and point up the relevance that the ancients' work has today. One review used the word "harrowing", and I can't disagree.
January 13, 2018
My son had to buy this book for college, so I decided to read it-having read the originals in my own college years (nerd that I am, I liked them.) Reading them then was like deciphering a puzzle. This opens every nuance up, and I found myself laughing out loud a few times. The translator is very good. I especially liked 'Prometheus Bound', but that was my favorite then, to0o.
September 24, 2019
I read my first Greek tragedies in 7th grade (Oedipus no less!) and have periodically gone back to them, either by the book or on stage. Here, Doerries provides powerful, straightforward translations which he has staged in his Theater of War project. These plays can speak to anyone, but his productions are focused on the survivors of war and trauma.
November 12, 2021
Shit Sophocles
I wish the man behind it all, the architect of war, had vanished or perished before he gave us the tools to kill and taught us how to use them.
He has destroyed my friendships, taken away my ability to sleep, and cut off my heart from all feeling, numbing me to love or being loved. He has left me out in the cold waiting to die, lost and shivering on distant shores.
I wish the man behind it all, the architect of war, had vanished or perished before he gave us the tools to kill and taught us how to use them.
He has destroyed my friendships, taken away my ability to sleep, and cut off my heart from all feeling, numbing me to love or being loved. He has left me out in the cold waiting to die, lost and shivering on distant shores.
July 11, 2021
Bryan Doerries translation of these tragedies is easy to understand. His beforehand reading notes also ease the understanding. His thoughts how the tragedies relate to modern day military veterans and their families and their experiences open up a new perspective.
October 17, 2022
I never get tired of discovery more parts of greek mythology which I never knew anything about. Ajax in particular is a chilling play which explores the themes of hubris and is still used today in the army to help soldiers to recover from PTSD
February 21, 2019
Superb propulsive renderings!
November 16, 2020
What do PTSD, abandonment, isolation, and euthanasia have in common? Greek Tragedy.
January 22, 2023
Doerries translations of ancient plays are wonderful. They offer new insight by adding contemporary context to each play making them
much more relatable.
much more relatable.
May 25, 2024
3.5
five stars for the plays themselves, but i wasn’t moved by the translations
five stars for the plays themselves, but i wasn’t moved by the translations
January 11, 2025
i love ajax and prometheus but the rest is kinda a rough read
December 27, 2025
Modern interpretations, though I thoroughly enjoyed the introductions. I felt like I missed out on a lot of crucial knowledge but I would be excited to continue to read interpretations of Greek lore
January 6, 2020
In these four Greek tragedies, Sophocles and Aeschylus explored various dimensions of human pain. Bryan Doerries's translations seek to explicitly link these 2500-year-old dramas to contemporary suffering, that felt by soldiers in wartime (Ajax, Philoctetes), by prisoners facing a life sentence (Prometheus Bound), and by terminal patients enduring extreme pain (Women of Trachis). His translations are approachable because of his use of contemporary vernacular, and still extremely moving.
The translation of Ajax was particularly moving. In his introduction, Doerries likens Ajax to a soldier suffering an extreme case of PTSD, drawing analogies between the decade-long Trojan War and our apparently endless war in Afghanistan. It is a melancholy thought indeed that despite all the changes wrought by more than a score of centuries, we still fail to recognize the full cost of our inability to resolve contention without the devastating and long-lasting effects created by armed conflicts. I find it particularly poignant to be reading this just days after our man-child President has turned our slow-burning conflict with Iran into a conflagration that could easily plunge the Mideast into war once again.
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