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تراژدی یونان
Cette lumineuse étude de la tragédie grecque reflète une parfaite connaissance et une passion profonde de l'auteur pour une culture, une pensée ayant modelé notre vision de l'homme. Les oeuvres des trois grands tragiques, Eschyle, Sophocle, Euripide, témoignent "d'une foi en l'homme qui éclaire de l'intérieur toutes les tragédies, même les plus sombres". "Cela s'appelle l'aurore" déclarait le mendiant de l'Electre de Giraudoux après une nuit de désolation.
212 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Jacqueline de Romilly
95 books39 followersJacqueline Worms de Romilly (March 26, 1913-December 18, 2010) was a French philologist, Classical scholar and writer of fiction of Jewish ancestry.
Born in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, she studied at the lycée Molière, where she was the winner of the Concours général de latin and took the second prize in Greek in 1930. She then prepared for the École Normale Supérieure at the lycée Louis-le-Grand. She entered ENS Ulm in the class of 1933. She then passed the agrégation of Classics in 1936, and became a doctor of letters in 1947.
After having taught for some time in a school, she became a professor first at the University of Lille and subsequently at the Sorbonne (from 1957 to 1973). She was then elevated to the chair of Greek and the development of moral and political thought at the Collège de France — the first woman nominated to this prestigious institution. In 1988, she was the second woman (after Marguerite Yourcenar) to enter the Académie française, being elected to Chair #7, previously occupied by André Roussin. In 1995, she obtained Greek nationality and in 2000 was nominated Ambassador of Hellenism by the Greek government.
She was at one time president of the Association Guillaume Budé, and remains the honorary president of that institution.
Born in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, she studied at the lycée Molière, where she was the winner of the Concours général de latin and took the second prize in Greek in 1930. She then prepared for the École Normale Supérieure at the lycée Louis-le-Grand. She entered ENS Ulm in the class of 1933. She then passed the agrégation of Classics in 1936, and became a doctor of letters in 1947.
After having taught for some time in a school, she became a professor first at the University of Lille and subsequently at the Sorbonne (from 1957 to 1973). She was then elevated to the chair of Greek and the development of moral and political thought at the Collège de France — the first woman nominated to this prestigious institution. In 1988, she was the second woman (after Marguerite Yourcenar) to enter the Académie française, being elected to Chair #7, previously occupied by André Roussin. In 1995, she obtained Greek nationality and in 2000 was nominated Ambassador of Hellenism by the Greek government.
She was at one time president of the Association Guillaume Budé, and remains the honorary president of that institution.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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May 26, 2026Excellent little book. It is impossible to mention or discuss all the reading keys Jacqueline de Romilly offers here. I will pick two.
To begin with, the ambiguity of the characters (this was also the main approach of Simon Critchley in Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us, 2019): most protagonists in Greek tragedy are never black and white; they are simultaneously guilty and innocent, weak and great, cowardly and courageous, criminal and heroic. That struck me as well. Take Antigone in Sophocles' drama. In our time, she is the epigone of female strength, of the resistance of the human against the impersonal law, and she certainly is that, of course, but anyone who reads the text carefully sees that she is also inexorable and rigid, perhaps even overly eager for martyrdom, has an ambiguous relationship with her deceased brother, and so on.
Second reading key: the eternal question of fatality and freedom. Here too, Romilly indicates that the Greek tragedians never fully choose one side or the other. The protagonists seem to be the plaything of a higher, opaque order (the gods or Fate), but their own actions are a determining factor. Divine judgment and will, as well as human will and action, coexist without contradiction: “one of the most remarkable traits of Greek thought is the possibility of explaining every event on two levels at once and through two causalities, which combine or superimpose. (…) Nothing that arrives does not happen without the will of a god; but nothing that arrives does not happen without man participating in it and being engaged in it: the divine and the human combine, overlap.” Just look at Oedipus: his downfall is the result of the curse resting upon his family, but is simultaneously brought about by his own actions.
The Greek tragedies constitute a unique manifestation of the first reflection on the complexity of the human order.
To begin with, the ambiguity of the characters (this was also the main approach of Simon Critchley in Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us, 2019): most protagonists in Greek tragedy are never black and white; they are simultaneously guilty and innocent, weak and great, cowardly and courageous, criminal and heroic. That struck me as well. Take Antigone in Sophocles' drama. In our time, she is the epigone of female strength, of the resistance of the human against the impersonal law, and she certainly is that, of course, but anyone who reads the text carefully sees that she is also inexorable and rigid, perhaps even overly eager for martyrdom, has an ambiguous relationship with her deceased brother, and so on.
Second reading key: the eternal question of fatality and freedom. Here too, Romilly indicates that the Greek tragedians never fully choose one side or the other. The protagonists seem to be the plaything of a higher, opaque order (the gods or Fate), but their own actions are a determining factor. Divine judgment and will, as well as human will and action, coexist without contradiction: “one of the most remarkable traits of Greek thought is the possibility of explaining every event on two levels at once and through two causalities, which combine or superimpose. (…) Nothing that arrives does not happen without the will of a god; but nothing that arrives does not happen without man participating in it and being engaged in it: the divine and the human combine, overlap.” Just look at Oedipus: his downfall is the result of the curse resting upon his family, but is simultaneously brought about by his own actions.
The Greek tragedies constitute a unique manifestation of the first reflection on the complexity of the human order.
April 19, 2023
به عنوان مدخل کتاب خوبیه. تو فصل اول به ژانر تراژدی میپردازه، کمی از تاریخچهی شکلگیری و ساختارش میگه و تو فصل آخر هم به مفهوم تراژیک در ارتباط با تراژدی قرن پنجی و تراژدیهای مدرن میپردازه. سه فصل میانی هم به ترتیب به آیسخولوس، سوفوکل و اوریپید اختصاص داده شدن؛ موتیفهای نمایشنامههاشون رو با شاهدهایی از خود متنها بررسی کرده و جالبترین بخشهای کتاب هم همین سه بخشان.
May 10, 2026
For me, this is without a doubt the best introduction to classical Greek tragedies. In fewer than 170 pages, the French philologist and classicist Jacqueline de Romilly (1913–2010) provides a highly didactic overview of the origins and evolution of Athenian theater in the 5th century BCE, with, of course, an emphasis on Aeschyles, Sophocles, and Euripides—the three greats. In doing so, she also provides striking elements of analysis that are an enormous help in reading these plays, which are over 2,400 years old. It is a pity that this has never been translated into English. My suggestion would be to read “A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama” by Ian C. Storey and Arlene Allan as a supplement, although it is much more extensive.
For more details about de Romilly’s book, see my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
For more details about de Romilly’s book, see my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
January 22, 2026
Ancient Greece is the inventor of tragedy, what a great legacy!
May 28, 2026
Konkretna i pełna trafnych obserwacji analiza najważniejszych cech tragedii greckiej, stylów wielkiej trójki i problemów ze współczesną interpretacją terminu.
Teatr antyczny przedstawiony w niezbędnych do zrozumienia go hasłach, silnie odróżniają się od siebie tragedie Ajschylosa, Sofoklesa i Eurypidesa — autorka kreśli szerokimi liniami, na co zwracać uwagę czytając każdego z nich i daje pole do własnej refleksji.
Bardzo solidna lektura dla każdego zainteresowanego tematem.
Teatr antyczny przedstawiony w niezbędnych do zrozumienia go hasłach, silnie odróżniają się od siebie tragedie Ajschylosa, Sofoklesa i Eurypidesa — autorka kreśli szerokimi liniami, na co zwracać uwagę czytając każdego z nich i daje pole do własnej refleksji.
Bardzo solidna lektura dla każdego zainteresowanego tematem.
August 22, 2021
Intéressant, mais je l'ai lu en complément d'un cours pour la fac donc j'ai rien de passionnant à dire
(Juste contente que l'essayiste dénonce l'interprétation néfaste du mythe d'OEdipe par freud)
(Juste contente que l'essayiste dénonce l'interprétation néfaste du mythe d'OEdipe par freud)
February 16, 2023
El mejor libro sobre la tragedia griega que he leído. Incluso por sobre los escritos de Niezsche.
November 12, 2024
Un classique mais à certains moments le propos ne va nulle part : le livre regorge de citations souvent peu exploitées, on aimerait qu’elle commente au lieu de réciter après il ferait 9291939 pages quoi🤚😔
May 27, 2022
Une lecture très instructive sur le sujet, qui m'a bien aidé avec les pièces que j'étudiais sur Eschyle, Sophocle et Euripide !
Un très bon complément pour les cours ou le plaisir !
Un très bon complément pour les cours ou le plaisir !
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews