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Four Tragedies: Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes
• Translated, with Introduction and Notes, by Peter Meineck & Paul Woodruff.
Meineck and Woodruff's new annotated translations of Sophocles' Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, and Philoctetes combine the same standards of accuracy, concision, clarity, and powerful speech that have so often made their Theban Plays a source of epiphany in the classroom and of understanding in the theatre. Woodruff's Introduction offers a brisk and stimulating discussion of central themes in Sophoclean drama, the life of the playwright, staging issues, and each of the four featured plays.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 451
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About the author
Sophocles
2,621 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 233 reviews
May 27, 2021
انتقام به مثابه وظیفه
در زمانه ای که تنها راه برقراری عدالت ، ایجاد تعادل به دست افراد خانواده بود، و سرپیچی از فرامین خدایان گناهی بزرگ شمرده میشد، الکترا مظهر انتقام جویی و دادخواهی شد.
.....
جایی خواندم :
«الكترای سوفوكل اگر قهرمان تراژیك باشد، تنها قهرمان تراژیك خوشبخت است.»
در زمانه ای که تنها راه برقراری عدالت ، ایجاد تعادل به دست افراد خانواده بود، و سرپیچی از فرامین خدایان گناهی بزرگ شمرده میشد، الکترا مظهر انتقام جویی و دادخواهی شد.
.....
جایی خواندم :
«الكترای سوفوكل اگر قهرمان تراژیك باشد، تنها قهرمان تراژیك خوشبخت است.»
July 18, 2021
اودیسئوس: هنگامی که من به سن و سال تو بودم بازوانم بیشتر به فرمانم بود تا زبانم لیکن امروز بر اثر تجارب دیرین و حوادث بسیار دریافته ام که زبان در این جهان بیشتر به کار مردان می آید تا زور بازو.
(فیلوکتتس)
-----------------
دیانیرا : آدمی هر قدر خود را بیگناه بداند دلی که گناه کرده است خویشتن را از او بهتر میشناسد.
(زنان تراخیس)
-----------------
الکترا : ... چون عمر آدمی برآید و ساعت موعود فرارسد، دیگر هیچ چیز به حال او سودمند واقع نمی شود.
(الکترا)
-----------------
آگاممنون : خصمی که داشتی به خاک هلاک افتاده است و تو باز او را حرمت میگذاری و تجلیل میکنی!
اودیسئوس : آری چون نیکی او هزار بار بیش از دشمنی او بود.
(آژاکس)
(فیلوکتتس)
-----------------
دیانیرا : آدمی هر قدر خود را بیگناه بداند دلی که گناه کرده است خویشتن را از او بهتر میشناسد.
(زنان تراخیس)
-----------------
الکترا : ... چون عمر آدمی برآید و ساعت موعود فرارسد، دیگر هیچ چیز به حال او سودمند واقع نمی شود.
(الکترا)
-----------------
آگاممنون : خصمی که داشتی به خاک هلاک افتاده است و تو باز او را حرمت میگذاری و تجلیل میکنی!
اودیسئوس : آری چون نیکی او هزار بار بیش از دشمنی او بود.
(آژاکس)
June 4, 2020
Continuing the tradition of greek tragedy reviewing.
Sophocles is by all definitions one of the greatest playwrites of all time. He focuses on the psyche, and often on characters who fall by doing the right thing: who define themselves by honorable traits until it kills them. These plays may be less known on the whole, but still pack a punch.
I did notice that these plays had little affect on me in comparison to certain others by Sophocles, but I believe this may partially be a result of translation; these translations feel less biting, less sharp, more direct meaning than emotion.
Reviewed Plays from this Collection
→Ajax ★★★☆☆ Sophocles← (c.445 BCE) (from a diff. volume)
Ajax is a man with a name that shrieks: the Greeks would have called him Aias. The vocative, when speaking to him, would've sounded like aiai, the Greek exclamation. In this play, following Ajax's final day after a prophesy comes he will kill himself, he certainly lives up to that. After this one day, the time for his fate to come will expire, and he may live. Ajax dies upon a Trojan sword, on Trojan ground, but he has placed it himself.
Tecmessa, Ajax's wife and war-bride, plays a much wider role in this than expected: she garners respect, in contrast to the expectations for war brides. Yet she still has a fragile role. The consequences for her if Ajax dies are not just losing him, but losing everything. His son, Eurysaces, would be considered illegitimate; indeed, this is the fate of his half-brother, Teucer. The contrast between him and Teucer is also interesting: while Teucer is an archer, associated with cowards (Paris) and tricksters (Odysseus), Ajax is a straight-shooting fighter. But the 'deception' speech to Tecmessa complicates this, using arrow imagery around his upcoming death.
The breaks in convention are notable: the play breaks typical narrative structure, the location shifts, the chorus leaves and comes back, and Ajax dies on stage, rather than off.
Notable Lines (John Moore translation):
CHORUS: Strangely the long & countless drift of time brings all things forth from darkness into light. (646)
AJAX: My speech is womanish for this woman's sake. (652)
→Electra ★★★★★ Sophocles← (unk)
Reviewed here.
→Women of Trachis ★★★★★ Sophocles← (unk)
The saddest of these plays... to me, anyway. Following Deianira, wife of Heracles, as she is tricked by the dead into killing her husband, this play pulls its audience in. Deianira is hopeless, but never pathetic—she uses what agency she has to great renown.
This play made me feel genuinely claustrophobic. We, as the audience, know from the beginning that Deianira is killing her husband through her actions: as she battles with whether to stand still or act, we know she should stand still. But it is impossible to fully want that for her. It is her willingness to act that makes her so compelling; it gives her the chance to fix her life, and eventually destroys her life.
→Philoctetes ★★★☆☆ Sophocles← (409 BCE)
This play revolves around the consequences of an evil trick played by the Greeks (as per usual). Ten years ago, the Greek army abandoned war hero Philoctetes on an abandoned island. Now, as per a prophecy, trickster Odysseus and young Neoptolemus must retrieve him. The character of Neoptolemus here must grapple with the bones he's standing on, but also keep the peace with both parties.
This play is interesting in that, like Ajax, it's a story about war that occurs removed from war. This is a recurring theme of Greek tragedy: the battles are not actually the topic of drama. It is the psychological trauma of war and the dynamics of heroism that are up for debate.
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Sophocles is by all definitions one of the greatest playwrites of all time. He focuses on the psyche, and often on characters who fall by doing the right thing: who define themselves by honorable traits until it kills them. These plays may be less known on the whole, but still pack a punch.
I did notice that these plays had little affect on me in comparison to certain others by Sophocles, but I believe this may partially be a result of translation; these translations feel less biting, less sharp, more direct meaning than emotion.
Reviewed Plays from this Collection
→Ajax ★★★☆☆ Sophocles← (c.445 BCE) (from a diff. volume)
Ajax is a man with a name that shrieks: the Greeks would have called him Aias. The vocative, when speaking to him, would've sounded like aiai, the Greek exclamation. In this play, following Ajax's final day after a prophesy comes he will kill himself, he certainly lives up to that. After this one day, the time for his fate to come will expire, and he may live. Ajax dies upon a Trojan sword, on Trojan ground, but he has placed it himself.
Tecmessa, Ajax's wife and war-bride, plays a much wider role in this than expected: she garners respect, in contrast to the expectations for war brides. Yet she still has a fragile role. The consequences for her if Ajax dies are not just losing him, but losing everything. His son, Eurysaces, would be considered illegitimate; indeed, this is the fate of his half-brother, Teucer. The contrast between him and Teucer is also interesting: while Teucer is an archer, associated with cowards (Paris) and tricksters (Odysseus), Ajax is a straight-shooting fighter. But the 'deception' speech to Tecmessa complicates this, using arrow imagery around his upcoming death.
The breaks in convention are notable: the play breaks typical narrative structure, the location shifts, the chorus leaves and comes back, and Ajax dies on stage, rather than off.
Notable Lines (John Moore translation):
CHORUS: Strangely the long & countless drift of time brings all things forth from darkness into light. (646)
AJAX: My speech is womanish for this woman's sake. (652)
→Electra ★★★★★ Sophocles← (unk)
Reviewed here.
→Women of Trachis ★★★★★ Sophocles← (unk)
The saddest of these plays... to me, anyway. Following Deianira, wife of Heracles, as she is tricked by the dead into killing her husband, this play pulls its audience in. Deianira is hopeless, but never pathetic—she uses what agency she has to great renown.
This play made me feel genuinely claustrophobic. We, as the audience, know from the beginning that Deianira is killing her husband through her actions: as she battles with whether to stand still or act, we know she should stand still. But it is impossible to fully want that for her. It is her willingness to act that makes her so compelling; it gives her the chance to fix her life, and eventually destroys her life.
→Philoctetes ★★★☆☆ Sophocles← (409 BCE)
This play revolves around the consequences of an evil trick played by the Greeks (as per usual). Ten years ago, the Greek army abandoned war hero Philoctetes on an abandoned island. Now, as per a prophecy, trickster Odysseus and young Neoptolemus must retrieve him. The character of Neoptolemus here must grapple with the bones he's standing on, but also keep the peace with both parties.
This play is interesting in that, like Ajax, it's a story about war that occurs removed from war. This is a recurring theme of Greek tragedy: the battles are not actually the topic of drama. It is the psychological trauma of war and the dynamics of heroism that are up for debate.
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October 29, 2023
آشنایی زیادی با یونان و نمایشنامههاش ندارم. بهعنوان کسی که فقط آواز آشیل و پنلوپیاد خونده اینا رو هم خیلی دوست داشتم.
فیلوکتتس: کسی که ادیسیوس و نئوپتولموس پسر آشیل خواستند با حیله راضی به بازگشت و تسلیم کردن کمانش کنند.
زنان تراخیس: تلاش دیرانیرا برای جلوگیری همسرش هراکلس از معشوقه گرفتن به فاجعه منتهی میشه...
الکترا: انتقام دخترِ آگاممنون از سلاخی پدرش توسط مادر و معشوقهی وی با بازگشت برادرش اورستس محقق میشه.
آژاکس: داستان زوال و نابودی قهرمان جنگهای یونان و تروا (چقدر دراماتیک و بچهان اینا=)))ا
فیلوکتتس: کسی که ادیسیوس و نئوپتولموس پسر آشیل خواستند با حیله راضی به بازگشت و تسلیم کردن کمانش کنند.
زنان تراخیس: تلاش دیرانیرا برای جلوگیری همسرش هراکلس از معشوقه گرفتن به فاجعه منتهی میشه...
الکترا: انتقام دخترِ آگاممنون از سلاخی پدرش توسط مادر و معشوقهی وی با بازگشت برادرش اورستس محقق میشه.
آژاکس: داستان زوال و نابودی قهرمان جنگهای یونان و تروا (چقدر دراماتیک و بچهان اینا=)))ا
April 13, 2025
I had planned to only read Electra and Ajax, but I enjoyed them so much that I decided to read all four of the plays: Ajax, Electra, Women of Trachis, and Philoctetes.
These plays by ancient Greek drama great Sophocles delves into the private lives and crises of the heroes and villains of the Trojan War and Greek mythology, especially their children and spouses .
In this edition the language is written in free verse and is easy to understand. The language is emotional at times, pleasant, sarcastic, and occasionally even there's a glimmer of humor. At the end there is a small section of notes for each play.
These plays by ancient Greek drama great Sophocles delves into the private lives and crises of the heroes and villains of the Trojan War and Greek mythology, especially their children and spouses .
In this edition the language is written in free verse and is easy to understand. The language is emotional at times, pleasant, sarcastic, and occasionally even there's a glimmer of humor. At the end there is a small section of notes for each play.
July 13, 2017
چهار نمایشنامه جذاب و خواندنی از سوفوکل ، بزرگترین درام نویس دنیای قدیم و به عقیده ی من تمام دوران ها.بی نهایت از مطالعه ی این کتاب لذت بردم.هر چهار نمایشنامه، شیوا و روان و از لحاظ شخصیت پردازی فوق العاده قوی و ملموس نوشته شده بود
خلاصه ای از نمایشنامه ها
فیلوکتتس ، که فتح باروی تروا باید به دست او صورت گیرد،زندگی اندوهناکی را سپری می کند....هراکلیس و زن او دیانیرا نیز قربانی قهر تقدیر می شوند
سرنوشت آگاممنون ، سپهسالار یونان در جنگ تروا ، و خیانت زنش که به دستیاری عاشق خود هلاک شوهر را موجب می شود ، و انتقام دخترش ، الکترا ، از خون پدر نیز شگفت و عبرت انگیز است.....همین گونه است فرجام آژاکس ، دلاور یونانی ، که بر اثر ارتکاب خطایی چنان پشیمان می شود که خنجر خود را درون سینه ی خویش فرو می برد
خلاصه ای از نمایشنامه ها
فیلوکتتس ، که فتح باروی تروا باید به دست او صورت گیرد،زندگی اندوهناکی را سپری می کند....هراکلیس و زن او دیانیرا نیز قربانی قهر تقدیر می شوند
سرنوشت آگاممنون ، سپهسالار یونان در جنگ تروا ، و خیانت زنش که به دستیاری عاشق خود هلاک شوهر را موجب می شود ، و انتقام دخترش ، الکترا ، از خون پدر نیز شگفت و عبرت انگیز است.....همین گونه است فرجام آژاکس ، دلاور یونانی ، که بر اثر ارتکاب خطایی چنان پشیمان می شود که خنجر خود را درون سینه ی خویش فرو می برد
September 6, 2016
57. Sophocles II : Ajax; The Women of Trachis; Electra; Philoctetes (The Complete Greek Tragedies)
translated: 1957
format: 255 page paperback (20th printing of a 1969 edition, printed in 1989)
acquired: May
read: Aug 31 - Sep 5
rating: 4 stars
There is something special about Sophocles relative to the other two preserved tragedy playwrights. David Grene says he is "the most modern, the nearest to us, of three Greek tragedians". What I think sets him apart is the power of the language itself. I know I'm reading this in translation, but Sophocles manages to make striking notes with short phrases, over and over again through his plays.
These four range quite a wide spectrum of his styles. The Women of Trachis stands out as being unusually wordy. It's considered immature, and it was the one I liked the least, although it has it's memorable aspects. The other three are each a masterwork in some way.
Ajax ~440 bce, translated by John Moore
When Achilles died, his armor was supposed to go to the best warrior. But Odysseus manipulated the process and won the armor. Ajax, truly the best warrior, committed suicide in humiliation. The manner in how he does this varies in different stories and Sophocles could chose his preferred version for the drama.
In this version Ajax sets out to kill Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus, but Athena plays a trick on his mind. Instead of attaching the men, he attacks sheep, thinking they are these men. He captures and tortures them, gloats and kills them and then passes out. Upon awaking, he is fully humiliated. The play is about how he bears it.
I found Ajax, the character, magnificent. He must come to terms with what he has actually done, and what to do about it, and about his wife, and son and brother, Teucer. He rocks with grief, then, feeling he has no choice but to kill himself, must give his family an affectionate goodbye, while concealing it from them, their servants, and the entire audience.
In the Homeric story, Ajax may well represent the most ancient aspects of Greek history. His full-bodied shield is antiquated even for the supposed time period of the bronze age Trojan War, and also for weaponry used within the epic. He is a relic from an older time, preserved. He is an archetype, silent both in his stoicism and because he in some ways defies words. I like to think Sophocles knew this, even if he didn't have the word "archetype" within his vocabulary, and that he captures elements of this here.
Unfortunately, we lose Ajax halfway through the play, and the play must go on without its best character.
The Women of Trachis ~450 bce, translated by Michael Jameson
In the tradition, apparently, Deianira, long suffering wife of Heracles, has had enough when Heracles falls for his captive, the young Iole. She sends him a poisoned gift. Sophocles' twist is to make her innocent. She intends to send him a potion from long ago that would make Heracles only love her and no one else. She doesn't realize it's actually poison. Sophocles does some interesting things with Heracles too. The play seemed wordy to me, and lacked the magical lines Sophocles creates in his other plays. And, being a Greek tragedy, it was a bit over the top with the melodrama. Not my favorite, obviously.
Electra ~409 bce, translated by David Grene
Electra is a brilliant, if understated play, with little action. Grene appreciates this in his intro and translation. He wasn't able to create the same magic Anne Carson does with her translation, and I don't think he felt and understood Electra the character as well as Carson does. But, still, this play has a lot of life in his translation too. (I reviewed Anne Carson's translation HERE)
Philoctetes 409 bce, translated by David Grene
This was a great play to end with. It is interesting and curious. Philoctetes, a master bowman from the Iliad who uses Heracles's bow, was bitten by a snake in the foot. Then he was dumped alone on the island of Lemnos by the Greek leadership - namely Agamemnon, Menelaus and, Odysseus. But the prophecy says that Philoctetes and his bow are needed to defeat Troy. He has to come back and fight for those who punished him.
In the play it's Odysseus and a young Neoptolemus, son of dead Achilles, are sent to bring him to Troy. Odysseus plays a hard game, opening the play by manipulating the still pure and honorable Neoptolemus. He knows it must be Neoptolemus who convinces Philoctetes to join, through is own apparent integrity and honor. "It is you who must help me," he tells him, and then advises him to "Say what you will against me; do not spare anything."
Things mostly go as planned. Neoptolemus wins the elder Philoctetes over completely, but the respect is mutual. Odysseus sets the trap, captures the bow and waits for Philoctetes to finally give in, but Neoptolemus undermines it all, returning the bow to Philoctetes. It's only when Heracles himself appears, in god form, that Philoctetes relents and comes to Troy.
Odysseus controls everyone ruthlessly, never letting on about his true plans. But his machinations don't capture the audience as much as Philoctetes does. It's hard not to like this desperate, and rather disgusting and unkempt survivor. The conversation between Philoctetes and Neoptolemus is moving. When Philoctetes is betrayed he reveals that he has no god to turn to. They are all against him. "Caverns and headlands, dens of wild creatures, you jutting broken crags, to you I raise my cry—there is no one else that I can speak to—" And, later, screaming at Odysseus "Hateful creature, what things you can invent! You plead the Gods to screen your actions and make the Gods out liars." This is Sophocles quietly damning the Gods himself.
A last note about his play. These plays were restricted to three actors and a chorus. When Heracles appears, Neoptolemus is on stage with Philoctetes. Which means the actor who plays Heracles is the same one who plays Odysseus and the audience would know this. So, was it Heracles, or, wink wink, was it really Odysseus putting in his last trick?
This collection finishes my incomplete run through these tragedies. I read all of Aeschylus and Sophocles, and most of Euripides. Of three playwrights, Sophocles was easily my favorite. I see him as the gem, the full master of language, creating living breathing experiences within the restrictive constraints of the form.
translated: 1957
format: 255 page paperback (20th printing of a 1969 edition, printed in 1989)
acquired: May
read: Aug 31 - Sep 5
rating: 4 stars
There is something special about Sophocles relative to the other two preserved tragedy playwrights. David Grene says he is "the most modern, the nearest to us, of three Greek tragedians". What I think sets him apart is the power of the language itself. I know I'm reading this in translation, but Sophocles manages to make striking notes with short phrases, over and over again through his plays.
These four range quite a wide spectrum of his styles. The Women of Trachis stands out as being unusually wordy. It's considered immature, and it was the one I liked the least, although it has it's memorable aspects. The other three are each a masterwork in some way.
Ajax ~440 bce, translated by John Moore
When Achilles died, his armor was supposed to go to the best warrior. But Odysseus manipulated the process and won the armor. Ajax, truly the best warrior, committed suicide in humiliation. The manner in how he does this varies in different stories and Sophocles could chose his preferred version for the drama.
In this version Ajax sets out to kill Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus, but Athena plays a trick on his mind. Instead of attaching the men, he attacks sheep, thinking they are these men. He captures and tortures them, gloats and kills them and then passes out. Upon awaking, he is fully humiliated. The play is about how he bears it.
I found Ajax, the character, magnificent. He must come to terms with what he has actually done, and what to do about it, and about his wife, and son and brother, Teucer. He rocks with grief, then, feeling he has no choice but to kill himself, must give his family an affectionate goodbye, while concealing it from them, their servants, and the entire audience.
In the Homeric story, Ajax may well represent the most ancient aspects of Greek history. His full-bodied shield is antiquated even for the supposed time period of the bronze age Trojan War, and also for weaponry used within the epic. He is a relic from an older time, preserved. He is an archetype, silent both in his stoicism and because he in some ways defies words. I like to think Sophocles knew this, even if he didn't have the word "archetype" within his vocabulary, and that he captures elements of this here.
Unfortunately, we lose Ajax halfway through the play, and the play must go on without its best character.
The Women of Trachis ~450 bce, translated by Michael Jameson
In the tradition, apparently, Deianira, long suffering wife of Heracles, has had enough when Heracles falls for his captive, the young Iole. She sends him a poisoned gift. Sophocles' twist is to make her innocent. She intends to send him a potion from long ago that would make Heracles only love her and no one else. She doesn't realize it's actually poison. Sophocles does some interesting things with Heracles too. The play seemed wordy to me, and lacked the magical lines Sophocles creates in his other plays. And, being a Greek tragedy, it was a bit over the top with the melodrama. Not my favorite, obviously.
Electra ~409 bce, translated by David Grene
Electra is a brilliant, if understated play, with little action. Grene appreciates this in his intro and translation. He wasn't able to create the same magic Anne Carson does with her translation, and I don't think he felt and understood Electra the character as well as Carson does. But, still, this play has a lot of life in his translation too. (I reviewed Anne Carson's translation HERE)
Philoctetes 409 bce, translated by David Grene
This was a great play to end with. It is interesting and curious. Philoctetes, a master bowman from the Iliad who uses Heracles's bow, was bitten by a snake in the foot. Then he was dumped alone on the island of Lemnos by the Greek leadership - namely Agamemnon, Menelaus and, Odysseus. But the prophecy says that Philoctetes and his bow are needed to defeat Troy. He has to come back and fight for those who punished him.
In the play it's Odysseus and a young Neoptolemus, son of dead Achilles, are sent to bring him to Troy. Odysseus plays a hard game, opening the play by manipulating the still pure and honorable Neoptolemus. He knows it must be Neoptolemus who convinces Philoctetes to join, through is own apparent integrity and honor. "It is you who must help me," he tells him, and then advises him to "Say what you will against me; do not spare anything."
Things mostly go as planned. Neoptolemus wins the elder Philoctetes over completely, but the respect is mutual. Odysseus sets the trap, captures the bow and waits for Philoctetes to finally give in, but Neoptolemus undermines it all, returning the bow to Philoctetes. It's only when Heracles himself appears, in god form, that Philoctetes relents and comes to Troy.
Odysseus controls everyone ruthlessly, never letting on about his true plans. But his machinations don't capture the audience as much as Philoctetes does. It's hard not to like this desperate, and rather disgusting and unkempt survivor. The conversation between Philoctetes and Neoptolemus is moving. When Philoctetes is betrayed he reveals that he has no god to turn to. They are all against him. "Caverns and headlands, dens of wild creatures, you jutting broken crags, to you I raise my cry—there is no one else that I can speak to—" And, later, screaming at Odysseus "Hateful creature, what things you can invent! You plead the Gods to screen your actions and make the Gods out liars." This is Sophocles quietly damning the Gods himself.
A last note about his play. These plays were restricted to three actors and a chorus. When Heracles appears, Neoptolemus is on stage with Philoctetes. Which means the actor who plays Heracles is the same one who plays Odysseus and the audience would know this. So, was it Heracles, or, wink wink, was it really Odysseus putting in his last trick?
This collection finishes my incomplete run through these tragedies. I read all of Aeschylus and Sophocles, and most of Euripides. Of three playwrights, Sophocles was easily my favorite. I see him as the gem, the full master of language, creating living breathing experiences within the restrictive constraints of the form.
December 27, 2015
There is something about Greek literature, Sophocles and Homer most especially, that buries itself in the mind so that it remains unforgettable. The moaning, groaning, wailing, and suffering becomes “your own heart’s speech.” It’s more than a little eerie to identify so well with ancient mythological figures, but their grief and agony articulate the distant voices of the collective unconscious.
Perhaps I’m easy to please, but I found all the plays in this edition extraordinarily compelling. My favorites are the Ajax and Philoctetes, about two great warriors fallen low, so exquisitely low that their contemplations of suicide become existential commentaries on the significance of life.
Like the ancient Greek audiences, most readers who choose this book already know the basic plots of each play, but there are surprising turns in the language and in the nuanced depiction of the characters. In general, I was surprised how much hate is directed at Odysseus, although I felt a little sorry for him in the Ajax. And even though he is hard and tricky in Philoctetes, Odysseus, who at one point says “What I seek in everything is to win,” is simply obeying the gods’ directives in deceiving the maimed and suffering hero out of his famous bow.
The agony is monumental in each play. Ajax suffers as a result of his wounded pride and shame. Deianira unwittingly becomes the cause of her husband Heracles’ physical torment and death. Electra’s moaning is the result of her long-enduring desire to revenge her father’s murder, and Philoctetes’ physical torment from a festering, odiferous wound results in his ten-year abandonment on a desert island. All the plays express human truths and reveal Sophocles’ great understanding of the behavior that results from a human mind and heart after intense trauma. It seems that Ajax has the line that speaks for all: “No, none, to ease my pain. / For God’s sake, help me die!” Death, it seems, is the only cessation to suffering.
Perhaps I’m easy to please, but I found all the plays in this edition extraordinarily compelling. My favorites are the Ajax and Philoctetes, about two great warriors fallen low, so exquisitely low that their contemplations of suicide become existential commentaries on the significance of life.
Like the ancient Greek audiences, most readers who choose this book already know the basic plots of each play, but there are surprising turns in the language and in the nuanced depiction of the characters. In general, I was surprised how much hate is directed at Odysseus, although I felt a little sorry for him in the Ajax. And even though he is hard and tricky in Philoctetes, Odysseus, who at one point says “What I seek in everything is to win,” is simply obeying the gods’ directives in deceiving the maimed and suffering hero out of his famous bow.
The agony is monumental in each play. Ajax suffers as a result of his wounded pride and shame. Deianira unwittingly becomes the cause of her husband Heracles’ physical torment and death. Electra’s moaning is the result of her long-enduring desire to revenge her father’s murder, and Philoctetes’ physical torment from a festering, odiferous wound results in his ten-year abandonment on a desert island. All the plays express human truths and reveal Sophocles’ great understanding of the behavior that results from a human mind and heart after intense trauma. It seems that Ajax has the line that speaks for all: “No, none, to ease my pain. / For God’s sake, help me die!” Death, it seems, is the only cessation to suffering.
February 21, 2024
Morals of the story:
Don’t be a bitch to Athena or you’ll pay💅🏻
Don’t be a hoe while your husband is at war.
If you start hearing the dead, maybe seek therapy.
Sophocles is bae.
Don’t be a bitch to Athena or you’ll pay💅🏻
Don’t be a hoe while your husband is at war.
If you start hearing the dead, maybe seek therapy.
Sophocles is bae.
August 18, 2025
آژاکس
نمایشنامه ای که سخت تکانم داد. تکه گفتار های زیادی رو می تونم از گفتگو ها یا خطابه های گروه همسرایان اینجا ذکر کنم اما به دو تا بسنده می کنم.
_ این شمشیر از آن هکتور است که دشمن خونخوار من بود و از روزیکه آنرا بدست آورده ام از کید یونانیان لحظه ای ایمن نبوده ام. چه راست گفته اند که از هدیه دشمن پیوسته بلا خیزد. من اکنون این تجربت را آموخته ام.
_ای مرگ بیا و خیره بصورت من نظاره کن، من باز بار دگر ترا خواهم دید و در جهان دیگر بر تو درود خواهم فرستاد لیکن این روشنائی روز و این چرخ و فلک آسمان را هرگز دوباره نخواهم دید .
نکته ای هم که در ادامه می خوام بیان کنم اینکه سرتاسر خوانش این نمایشنامه مدام در فکر تئاتر آنتونن آرتو و ایده های درخشان ش در تئاتر شقاوت(theatre of cruelty )بودم . در اقتباسی مدرن و هوشمندانه از این نمایشنامه می توان از ایده های آرتو و تئاتر تهاجمی ( in- year- face) بهره جست و اثری درخشان روی صحنه آورد تا در خور شأن این قهرمان تراژیک باشد.
نمایشنامه ای که سخت تکانم داد. تکه گفتار های زیادی رو می تونم از گفتگو ها یا خطابه های گروه همسرایان اینجا ذکر کنم اما به دو تا بسنده می کنم.
_ این شمشیر از آن هکتور است که دشمن خونخوار من بود و از روزیکه آنرا بدست آورده ام از کید یونانیان لحظه ای ایمن نبوده ام. چه راست گفته اند که از هدیه دشمن پیوسته بلا خیزد. من اکنون این تجربت را آموخته ام.
_ای مرگ بیا و خیره بصورت من نظاره کن، من باز بار دگر ترا خواهم دید و در جهان دیگر بر تو درود خواهم فرستاد لیکن این روشنائی روز و این چرخ و فلک آسمان را هرگز دوباره نخواهم دید .
نکته ای هم که در ادامه می خوام بیان کنم اینکه سرتاسر خوانش این نمایشنامه مدام در فکر تئاتر آنتونن آرتو و ایده های درخشان ش در تئاتر شقاوت(theatre of cruelty )بودم . در اقتباسی مدرن و هوشمندانه از این نمایشنامه می توان از ایده های آرتو و تئاتر تهاجمی ( in- year- face) بهره جست و اثری درخشان روی صحنه آورد تا در خور شأن این قهرمان تراژیک باشد.
October 19, 2015
همينطوري كه من يونان و اسطوره دوست دارم،ديگه سوفوكل هم جاي خود دارد.
September 28, 2025
3.5*
so much better than aeschylus it’s not even funny
so much better than aeschylus it’s not even funny
March 27, 2023
Ajax
Electra
Women of Trachis
Philoctetes
Electra
Women of Trachis
Philoctetes
September 21, 2019
The standout is the Philoktetes, which is a nice little piece to use as a heuristic for Hegel's theory of tragedy, insofar as Right comes into confrontation with Right, and about which I have written separately. Otherwise--
Aias
Accused of “an act of staggering horror” (22), Aias has “aimed a stroke at the whole Greek army” (44), a stasis in the camp at Troy. Athena here recalls Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, asking “Who was more full of foresight that this man, / Or abler, do you think, to act with judgment?” (119-20). Odysseus laments Aias’ “Terrible yoke of blindness” (123), finding in it “the true state of all us that live” (125). Some condemnation of those who “weave with false art a supposititious tale” (190). Indeed, “how shall I speak a thing that appalls my speech?” (214). Aias is alledegly “clear in mind” (258) and yet “anguish totally masters him” (275). The play comments on its own construction: “how at the start did this catastrophe / swoop down?” (282-3), pointing out that the catastrophe supposedly ends the tragedy, at least in the later definitions of Aristotle, Freytag, and others. Aias apparently believes that “a woman’s decency is silence” (295) and crying is “marks of an abject spirit” (320). The oikos as private abattoir, as in Aeschylus (345). His defect is perceived atimia: “but now in dishonor / I lie abject” (425). “my name is Aias / agony is its meaning” (431-2). “nor less deserving, yet am left an outcast, / shamed by the Greeks, to perish” (439-40). Tecmessa invokes Homeric moments in Andromache’s plea to Hektor (498 ff.) and Priam’s appeal to Achilles (507 ff.). “ignorance is an evil free from pain” (555), the disjunction of aesthetics and gnosis. Murder changes to suicide: “He swooned in death; this sword Hector gave Aias, / who perished on it with a death-fraught fall. / Did not a Fury beat this weapon out?” (1032-4) “Destinies of men, for the gods weave them all” (1038). Denial burial follows, a familiar difficulty—but “laws will never be rightly kept in a city / that knows no fear or reverence” (1073-4). This metaphor, which Menelaus seeks to apply to the army at Troy, violates the constitution thereof: “didn’t he make the voyage here on his own, / as his own master?” (1099-1100). A religious affront, also, in preventing the burial (1131). One of Aias’ complaints had been against Menelaus’ “procuring fraudulent votes” (1135), a democratic concept in this aristocratic myth. “how fugitive is the gratitude / men owe the dead” (1261-2). Odysseus as the voice of reason on the burial issue: “I hated him while it was fair to hate” (1347); “his greatness weighs more than my hate” (1357). The burial is Ananke (1365). Odysseus resolves to be Aias’ friend in death (1377)—cf. the Antigone for the handling of this issue—here, it is not a polis and thus not a stasis: ergo, no need to take sides in a ‘fight’ and no need for amnestia thereafter? No violations of the rules here means no reciprocal punishments required?
Trachiniae
Deianira opens by channeling Solon from Herodotus: “You cannot know a man’s life before the man / has died, then only can you call it good or bad” (2-3), and then insists that despite being alive, her life is “heavy and sorrowful” (5). She laments that Heracles’ war against the chthonians has been difficult: “This has been his life, that only brings him home / to send him out again, to serve some man or other” (34-5), the oikos placed at the service of the polis. She is advised, “if it is proper that the free should learn / from the thought of slaves” (52-3), that she should “use” her sons to sound out the “absent” father. (“This woman is / a slave, but what she says is worthy of the free” (62-3).) His latest resulted in his own taking of slaves: “he selected them when he sacked the city of Eurytus / as possessions for himself and a choice gift for the Gods” (244-5). The war resulted from Heracles’ wanting revenge for his own reduction to servitude (255 et seq.). Others argue that “love alone who bewitched him into this violence” (355), “inflamed with desire” (368). It is that “her city was completely crushed through desire for her” (431-2). Though “he has had other women before” (460), it is un decidable whether “he suffers from this sickness, / or that woman” (446-7), the same undecidability as in Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera and elsewhere, apparently a common refrain, becoming more arguably foundational the more often we trip over it, eros as less a solicitation of the constitutional order but a solicitation that is the constitutional order. Thereafter follows a lover’s revenge poisoning plot: “for this Justice who punishes / and the Fury will requite you” (808-9). Heracles himself appears late in the play, lamenting the lovecraftian problem of confronting “this inexorable flowering of madness” (999). His grievance is not unwarranted: “O most ungrateful of the Greeks, where are all you / for whom I destroyed myself purging so many beasts / from all the seas and woods?” (1011-13). His torment is “a woven, encircling net / of the Furies” (1051-2). “Neither the spear of battle, not the army of / the earth-born Giants, nor the violence of beasts, / nor Greece, nor any place of barbarous tongues, not / the landsi came to purify could ever do this. / woman, a female, in no way like a man, / she alone without even a sword has brought me down” (1058-63). “Long ago my father revealed / to me that I should die by nothing that draws breath / but by someone dead, an inhabitant of Hell” (1159-61).
Elektra
An equivocation of ‘justice’ (37) and ‘revenge’ (34). “no word is base when spoken with profit” (61). Orestes comes as “purifier” to his father’s oikos (68-9). Elektra angry that “like some dishonored foreigner / I tenant in my father’s house in these ugly rags” (188-9). Atreides have problems back to Pelops at least: “for never a moment since / has destruction and ruin / ever left this house” (510-2), the oikos as bearer of the curse. For her part, Clytemnestra thinks “justice it was that took him” (527), citing specifically the sacrifice of Iphigenia, a matter of the oikos—justice ergo a matter of household concern—hence coinciding without remainder in vendetta. Reading the lock (932). “must I then follow your conception of justice?” (1038)—which is to “yield to authority” (396). Tragic dilemma in “it is terrible to speak well and be wrong” (1039)? “no body of Orestes—except in fiction” (1217). “spare me all superfluity of speech” (1288). Matricide is in the oikos but resounds in the polis (1400 ff). “must this house, by absolute necessity, / see the evils of the Pelopidae” (1497). And yet: “justice shall be taken / directly on all who act above the law-- / justice by killing” (1505-7).
Aias
Accused of “an act of staggering horror” (22), Aias has “aimed a stroke at the whole Greek army” (44), a stasis in the camp at Troy. Athena here recalls Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, asking “Who was more full of foresight that this man, / Or abler, do you think, to act with judgment?” (119-20). Odysseus laments Aias’ “Terrible yoke of blindness” (123), finding in it “the true state of all us that live” (125). Some condemnation of those who “weave with false art a supposititious tale” (190). Indeed, “how shall I speak a thing that appalls my speech?” (214). Aias is alledegly “clear in mind” (258) and yet “anguish totally masters him” (275). The play comments on its own construction: “how at the start did this catastrophe / swoop down?” (282-3), pointing out that the catastrophe supposedly ends the tragedy, at least in the later definitions of Aristotle, Freytag, and others. Aias apparently believes that “a woman’s decency is silence” (295) and crying is “marks of an abject spirit” (320). The oikos as private abattoir, as in Aeschylus (345). His defect is perceived atimia: “but now in dishonor / I lie abject” (425). “my name is Aias / agony is its meaning” (431-2). “nor less deserving, yet am left an outcast, / shamed by the Greeks, to perish” (439-40). Tecmessa invokes Homeric moments in Andromache’s plea to Hektor (498 ff.) and Priam’s appeal to Achilles (507 ff.). “ignorance is an evil free from pain” (555), the disjunction of aesthetics and gnosis. Murder changes to suicide: “He swooned in death; this sword Hector gave Aias, / who perished on it with a death-fraught fall. / Did not a Fury beat this weapon out?” (1032-4) “Destinies of men, for the gods weave them all” (1038). Denial burial follows, a familiar difficulty—but “laws will never be rightly kept in a city / that knows no fear or reverence” (1073-4). This metaphor, which Menelaus seeks to apply to the army at Troy, violates the constitution thereof: “didn’t he make the voyage here on his own, / as his own master?” (1099-1100). A religious affront, also, in preventing the burial (1131). One of Aias’ complaints had been against Menelaus’ “procuring fraudulent votes” (1135), a democratic concept in this aristocratic myth. “how fugitive is the gratitude / men owe the dead” (1261-2). Odysseus as the voice of reason on the burial issue: “I hated him while it was fair to hate” (1347); “his greatness weighs more than my hate” (1357). The burial is Ananke (1365). Odysseus resolves to be Aias’ friend in death (1377)—cf. the Antigone for the handling of this issue—here, it is not a polis and thus not a stasis: ergo, no need to take sides in a ‘fight’ and no need for amnestia thereafter? No violations of the rules here means no reciprocal punishments required?
Trachiniae
Deianira opens by channeling Solon from Herodotus: “You cannot know a man’s life before the man / has died, then only can you call it good or bad” (2-3), and then insists that despite being alive, her life is “heavy and sorrowful” (5). She laments that Heracles’ war against the chthonians has been difficult: “This has been his life, that only brings him home / to send him out again, to serve some man or other” (34-5), the oikos placed at the service of the polis. She is advised, “if it is proper that the free should learn / from the thought of slaves” (52-3), that she should “use” her sons to sound out the “absent” father. (“This woman is / a slave, but what she says is worthy of the free” (62-3).) His latest resulted in his own taking of slaves: “he selected them when he sacked the city of Eurytus / as possessions for himself and a choice gift for the Gods” (244-5). The war resulted from Heracles’ wanting revenge for his own reduction to servitude (255 et seq.). Others argue that “love alone who bewitched him into this violence” (355), “inflamed with desire” (368). It is that “her city was completely crushed through desire for her” (431-2). Though “he has had other women before” (460), it is un decidable whether “he suffers from this sickness, / or that woman” (446-7), the same undecidability as in Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera and elsewhere, apparently a common refrain, becoming more arguably foundational the more often we trip over it, eros as less a solicitation of the constitutional order but a solicitation that is the constitutional order. Thereafter follows a lover’s revenge poisoning plot: “for this Justice who punishes / and the Fury will requite you” (808-9). Heracles himself appears late in the play, lamenting the lovecraftian problem of confronting “this inexorable flowering of madness” (999). His grievance is not unwarranted: “O most ungrateful of the Greeks, where are all you / for whom I destroyed myself purging so many beasts / from all the seas and woods?” (1011-13). His torment is “a woven, encircling net / of the Furies” (1051-2). “Neither the spear of battle, not the army of / the earth-born Giants, nor the violence of beasts, / nor Greece, nor any place of barbarous tongues, not / the landsi came to purify could ever do this. / woman, a female, in no way like a man, / she alone without even a sword has brought me down” (1058-63). “Long ago my father revealed / to me that I should die by nothing that draws breath / but by someone dead, an inhabitant of Hell” (1159-61).
Elektra
An equivocation of ‘justice’ (37) and ‘revenge’ (34). “no word is base when spoken with profit” (61). Orestes comes as “purifier” to his father’s oikos (68-9). Elektra angry that “like some dishonored foreigner / I tenant in my father’s house in these ugly rags” (188-9). Atreides have problems back to Pelops at least: “for never a moment since / has destruction and ruin / ever left this house” (510-2), the oikos as bearer of the curse. For her part, Clytemnestra thinks “justice it was that took him” (527), citing specifically the sacrifice of Iphigenia, a matter of the oikos—justice ergo a matter of household concern—hence coinciding without remainder in vendetta. Reading the lock (932). “must I then follow your conception of justice?” (1038)—which is to “yield to authority” (396). Tragic dilemma in “it is terrible to speak well and be wrong” (1039)? “no body of Orestes—except in fiction” (1217). “spare me all superfluity of speech” (1288). Matricide is in the oikos but resounds in the polis (1400 ff). “must this house, by absolute necessity, / see the evils of the Pelopidae” (1497). And yet: “justice shall be taken / directly on all who act above the law-- / justice by killing” (1505-7).
Read
July 21, 2025Pretty decent set of plays, Philoctetes is just about a guy with a scatty foot and literally nothing else so wouldn’t recommend that one.
Ajax was interesting and from a modern view point showed PTSD from Troy.
Electra, good plot as per. Think I prefer this to Euripides’ one??
Women of Trachis = og Romeo and Juliet low key
As I say every time,Ancient Greek plays aren’t scary at all, and are fun way to get into classics!!
Ajax was interesting and from a modern view point showed PTSD from Troy.
Electra, good plot as per. Think I prefer this to Euripides’ one??
Women of Trachis = og Romeo and Juliet low key
As I say every time,Ancient Greek plays aren’t scary at all, and are fun way to get into classics!!
January 28, 2019
نمایشنامه الکترا را از ترجمه انگلیسی ماینک خوندم. ترجمه های ماینک، نه ترجمه های ادبی قوی بلکه ترجمه هایی هستند که برای اجرای روی صحنه پرداخته شده اند. زبان ساده و بی تکلفی دارند، بازی های ادبی را در حدی که به روانی اجرا لطمه نخورد در متن باقی گذاشته اند و در یادداشت ها هم بیشتر به نکاتی اشاره کرده اند که به دقت اجرای روی صحنه کمک کنند.
به هر حال، با وجود تمام این مشکلات ترجمه ای ساده و روان برای خواننده بی سواد غیر انگلیسی زبان (مثل من) به حساب می آیند. هر چند به منظور درک و فهم بهتر جزییات نمایشنامه سوفوکلس و مقایسه روایت های سوفوکس، آیسخولوس و اوریپیدس از داستان الکترا، میتوان به مقدمه رابرت شاو روی ترجمه آن کارسون و یادداشت های پایانی کارسون مراجعه کرد.
به هر حال، با وجود تمام این مشکلات ترجمه ای ساده و روان برای خواننده بی سواد غیر انگلیسی زبان (مثل من) به حساب می آیند. هر چند به منظور درک و فهم بهتر جزییات نمایشنامه سوفوکلس و مقایسه روایت های سوفوکس، آیسخولوس و اوریپیدس از داستان الکترا، میتوان به مقدمه رابرت شاو روی ترجمه آن کارسون و یادداشت های پایانی کارسون مراجعه کرد.
Read
March 1, 2021نمایشنامه صوتی الکترا رو از "پادکست الف" گوش دادم
پادکست الف کار بزرگی در حق من کرد با بازخوانی نمایشنامه های یونان باستان،اگه نبود احتمالش خیلی کم بود که سراغشون برم😶
حین گوش دادنش مدام با مده آ مقایسه اش میکردم و نمایشنامه مده آ برام جالب تر بود و حداقلش اتفاقای بیشتری توی مده آ رخ داد.
الکترا برای من نشون دهنده ی مقاومت فقط یک زن دربرابر مشکلات زیادش،بدون پشتیبان بود.که فقط تنها دلخوشیش انتظاری بود که برای اومدن منجی ش که همون برادرشه باشه رو داشت.
چیز دیگه ای که فهمیدم این بود که این نمایشنامه توی ایران مهجوره و خیلیا نخوندش
بنظرم دیدن یا همینطور گوش دادنش موثر تر از خوندنش باشه و جذاب تر باشه.
و اینکه حسادت دختر به مادر به خاطر علاقه زياد به پدر را عقده الكترا مي گويند
پادکست الف کار بزرگی در حق من کرد با بازخوانی نمایشنامه های یونان باستان،اگه نبود احتمالش خیلی کم بود که سراغشون برم😶
حین گوش دادنش مدام با مده آ مقایسه اش میکردم و نمایشنامه مده آ برام جالب تر بود و حداقلش اتفاقای بیشتری توی مده آ رخ داد.
الکترا برای من نشون دهنده ی مقاومت فقط یک زن دربرابر مشکلات زیادش،بدون پشتیبان بود.که فقط تنها دلخوشیش انتظاری بود که برای اومدن منجی ش که همون برادرشه باشه رو داشت.
چیز دیگه ای که فهمیدم این بود که این نمایشنامه توی ایران مهجوره و خیلیا نخوندش
بنظرم دیدن یا همینطور گوش دادنش موثر تر از خوندنش باشه و جذاب تر باشه.
و اینکه حسادت دختر به مادر به خاطر علاقه زياد به پدر را عقده الكترا مي گويند
October 13, 2018
آژاکس
زمستان با پای برفآلود از مقابل تابستان گرم میگریزد. شحنه شب از گشت شبانه خود باز میایستد تا چابکسوار صبح بر سمند نقره فام نشیند و عالم را منور کند. طوفان باد توقف میکند تا امواج خروشان دریا اندکی بیارامد. حتی خواب که قادر مطلق جان آدمیان است دریچهی خود را گاهی میگشاید و گاهی میبندد و هرگز نمیتواند زندانی خود را تا ابد در بند نگاه دارد.
زمستان با پای برفآلود از مقابل تابستان گرم میگریزد. شحنه شب از گشت شبانه خود باز میایستد تا چابکسوار صبح بر سمند نقره فام نشیند و عالم را منور کند. طوفان باد توقف میکند تا امواج خروشان دریا اندکی بیارامد. حتی خواب که قادر مطلق جان آدمیان است دریچهی خود را گاهی میگشاید و گاهی میبندد و هرگز نمیتواند زندانی خود را تا ابد در بند نگاه دارد.
January 9, 2024
زنان تراخیس: ۴.۵
آژاکس: ۴
الکترا: ۲
فیلوکتتس: ۲.۵
و بله، هیچکس اوریپید نمیشه :))
آژاکس: ۴
الکترا: ۲
فیلوکتتس: ۲.۵
و بله، هیچکس اوریپید نمیشه :))
July 5, 2022
Oto mój ranking dramatów Sofoklesa, o który nikt nie prosił a każdy potrzebował
1. Król Edyp ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Filoktet ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Antygona ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Edyp w Kolonos ⭐⭐⭐✨
5. Trachinki ⭐⭐⭐💫 i Ajas ⭐⭐⭐💫 ( głównie za Tekmesse)
6. Elektra ⭐⭐💫*
*⭐ cała gwiazdka
✨ 0.75
💫 0.5
Jakby się ktoś zastanawiał
3.625 po wyliczeniu średniej
1. Król Edyp ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Filoktet ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Antygona ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Edyp w Kolonos ⭐⭐⭐✨
5. Trachinki ⭐⭐⭐💫 i Ajas ⭐⭐⭐💫 ( głównie za Tekmesse)
6. Elektra ⭐⭐💫*
*⭐ cała gwiazdka
✨ 0.75
💫 0.5
Jakby się ktoś zastanawiał
3.625 po wyliczeniu średniej
October 21, 2013
It's very sad that from 123 plays written by the great master of Greek Tragedies Sophocles only 7 complete plays survived.
In this collection we know how Sophocles can make a great drama from a small tiny event as in Ajax, We know he is the real master of The Greek tragedies compared to Aeschylus and Euripides reading his version of Electra, We know his charm in presenting characters even if they are silent, with only two sentences "Iole in Women of Trachis ", Finally we see in a Greek play a well presented psychological struggle "Neoptolemus in Philoctetes".
I liked all his seven plays "complete works" which is very rare.
Here's my review about each play
In this collection we know how Sophocles can make a great drama from a small tiny event as in Ajax, We know he is the real master of The Greek tragedies compared to Aeschylus and Euripides reading his version of Electra, We know his charm in presenting characters even if they are silent, with only two sentences "Iole in Women of Trachis ", Finally we see in a Greek play a well presented psychological struggle "Neoptolemus in Philoctetes".
I liked all his seven plays "complete works" which is very rare.
Here's my review about each play
February 23, 2024
Drugi tom tragedii Sofoklesa to kolejne cztery utwory uzupełniające zachowany w pełni dorobek siedmiu sztuk najbardziej znanego greckiego tragika. Dwie pierwsze, czyli Ajas i Filoktet są bardzo ciekawym spojrzeniem na wojnę trojańską, które skupia się nie na heroizmie jej uczestników, a na ich wadach, podłości i ciemnej stronie jej prowadzenia tym bardziej przez tak długi czas. Osobiście uwielbiam to jak przedstawiony w tych dwóch tragediach jest Odyseusz, którego dopiero co poznałem jako wspaniałą postać w Odysei Homera, która w przedstawieniu Sofoklesa okazuje się jako najbardziej śliska z bohaterów wojny trojańskiej. Na osobne wyróżnienie zasługuje genialny monolog Ajaksa w Epejsodionie II. Elektra z kolei to znany motyw zemsty, przedstawiony w bardzo interesujący sposób z perspektywy innej niż mściciela. Jest to chyba najbardziej oryginalna ze wszystkich tragedii Sofoklesa.
Najmniej podobały mi się Trachinki, być może już z winy przesytu.
Podobnie jak w przypadku pierwszego tomu tekst Libery jest niewiarygodnie plastyczny, czyta się wspaniale i daje dużo przyjemności z obcowania z antykiem.
Najmniej podobały mi się Trachinki, być może już z winy przesytu.
Podobnie jak w przypadku pierwszego tomu tekst Libery jest niewiarygodnie plastyczny, czyta się wspaniale i daje dużo przyjemności z obcowania z antykiem.
December 10, 2021
Few works manage to capture the entire breadth of human emotion in a short 30-40 pages, fewer less do it well. Though these works benefit from an established base of characters and events, the craftsmanship of the Attic poets still shines through. Ajax, of the four, remains one of my favorite pieces of drama, peculiar among Sophocles works for having active participation of the Gods despite not being the source of resolution. Either way, incredible stuff.
August 16, 2025
espectacular mi sof
May 3, 2019
I've only read one Sophocles' tragedy before (Antigone), but that was top-rate, so my expectations were high. Sophocles didn't disappoint: these were very entertaining and interesting plays that still have relevance, 2500 years after they were written.
Women of Trachis told the story of Heracles' suicide by funeral pyre. I was pretty unfamiliar with the mythos around Heracles, so the twists and turns of the story managed to surprise me. Not bad.
Ajax was the best of these four plays. Ajax was a hero of the Trojan war who got royally pissed when Achilles' weapons were handed to Odysseus instead of him. So pissed, in fact, that he decides to torture-kill all the leaders of the expedition. Sounds reasonable to me. Athene casts a confusion over him, so Ajax ends up killing only pack animals. When Ajax realizes his error, he gets ashamed of his actions - not the torture-killing bit, but the fact that he killed helpless animals, which is unbecoming of a warrior. He gets so ashamed, in fact, that he decides to kill himself. Once again, most reasonable logic.
The play has unusual structure: Ajax's suicide happens in the middle of the play, and then the story turns into Antigone part 2: for the rest of the play the conflict revolves around the burial of Ajax. Odysseus acts as a voice of reason, so the play ends on a more of less peaceful note.
In Philoctetes, on the other hand, Odysseus is depicted as a crafty and amoral manipulator. According to a prophecy the Trojan war can't be won without Philoctetes and his invincible bow. Odysseus comes up with a deceitful plan to get Philo back to Troy. The only trouble is that he drafts young Neoptolemy to lure Philoctetes, but Neo feels sorry for the poor man and decides to come clean and confess the whole plot. Philoctetes decides to have nothing to do with the whole war, Greeks be damned - but changes suddenly his mind after literal deus ex machina: Heracles descends from Olympos to tell Philoctetes to stop his whining and get back on board with the war business.
Philoctetes obeys, and the play ends - happily. Zero suicides, zero murders. Extremely unexpected.
With Electra we get back on the proper Greek tragedy track: here we have murders aplenty. This play tells the same story as The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. Sophocles focuses more on Electra than Orestes. The most interesting bit was the dialogue between Electra and her sister Crysothemis. They are both living with their murderous mother, who they both hate, but Cryso has decided to accept her fate for the time being and submit to her mother's will. Therefore she lives in luxury. Electra, on the other hand, is relentless in her hate and isn't afraid to show how much she despised her mother. Thus she wears only rags and is treated like a slave. Both sisters try unsuccesfully to convert the other to their point of view. The audience is left to draw their own conclusions as to which way is actually better.
Women of Trachis told the story of Heracles' suicide by funeral pyre. I was pretty unfamiliar with the mythos around Heracles, so the twists and turns of the story managed to surprise me. Not bad.
Ajax was the best of these four plays. Ajax was a hero of the Trojan war who got royally pissed when Achilles' weapons were handed to Odysseus instead of him. So pissed, in fact, that he decides to torture-kill all the leaders of the expedition. Sounds reasonable to me. Athene casts a confusion over him, so Ajax ends up killing only pack animals. When Ajax realizes his error, he gets ashamed of his actions - not the torture-killing bit, but the fact that he killed helpless animals, which is unbecoming of a warrior. He gets so ashamed, in fact, that he decides to kill himself. Once again, most reasonable logic.
The play has unusual structure: Ajax's suicide happens in the middle of the play, and then the story turns into Antigone part 2: for the rest of the play the conflict revolves around the burial of Ajax. Odysseus acts as a voice of reason, so the play ends on a more of less peaceful note.
In Philoctetes, on the other hand, Odysseus is depicted as a crafty and amoral manipulator. According to a prophecy the Trojan war can't be won without Philoctetes and his invincible bow. Odysseus comes up with a deceitful plan to get Philo back to Troy. The only trouble is that he drafts young Neoptolemy to lure Philoctetes, but Neo feels sorry for the poor man and decides to come clean and confess the whole plot. Philoctetes decides to have nothing to do with the whole war, Greeks be damned - but changes suddenly his mind after literal deus ex machina: Heracles descends from Olympos to tell Philoctetes to stop his whining and get back on board with the war business.
Philoctetes obeys, and the play ends - happily. Zero suicides, zero murders. Extremely unexpected.
With Electra we get back on the proper Greek tragedy track: here we have murders aplenty. This play tells the same story as The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. Sophocles focuses more on Electra than Orestes. The most interesting bit was the dialogue between Electra and her sister Crysothemis. They are both living with their murderous mother, who they both hate, but Cryso has decided to accept her fate for the time being and submit to her mother's will. Therefore she lives in luxury. Electra, on the other hand, is relentless in her hate and isn't afraid to show how much she despised her mother. Thus she wears only rags and is treated like a slave. Both sisters try unsuccesfully to convert the other to their point of view. The audience is left to draw their own conclusions as to which way is actually better.
January 31, 2018
Greeks with issues
In the USA there's a social category of people known as "airheads" for whom anything that happened before the year 2000 is "like, major antiquity, guy". What can we say, then, about plays that were written over 2,400 years ago ? For most of my life, the mention of Greek plays was on a par with cod liver oil. Probably good for me, but best avoided if possible. I admit, it was the airhead-lite approach. Recently, I finally buckled down and decided it was now or never. I'm not sorry I did.
The four plays by Sophocles in this collection deal with Iliad spinoffs---events connected to that ancient epic with some of the Trojan War characters already known to the Greeks of the author's time---with legends of the gods (Hercules or Heracles, as they write it) or with both at once. Each play uses a chorus to reflect inner thinking or thinking by "other people", whoever they may be. The translation in this volume brings a modicum of modern English to the plays, rendering them very understandable. Purists might not appreciate that, but I, for one, found myself better able to follow the deeper meanings of the plays because I didn't have to wade through archaic English. (Remember how we struggled through Shakespeare?) AJAX, ELECTRA, WOMEN OF TRACHIS, and PHILOCTETES jolted me out of my neo-airhead tendencies and amazed me by their modernity. Their form may be ancient, stilted to modern eyes, and lacking much action, but the themes reveal human nature as if these plays all were written yesterday. The same dilemmas pose themselves, the same contrasts in human character---the straight and the crooked, the mean and the noble, the forgiving and the vengeful. Actions well meant turn out to have disastrous consequences. Greed and jealousy run rampant. AJAX, the earliest work here, is a little less dramatic than the other three, but does deal with "temporary insanity". I don't have the silver tongue and deconstruction abilities of a literary expert, but if these plays don't knock your socks off---just because of their relevance to 2018 if for no other reason---then I don't know what will. Don't wait 40 years. Delicious cod liver oil, no lie.
In the USA there's a social category of people known as "airheads" for whom anything that happened before the year 2000 is "like, major antiquity, guy". What can we say, then, about plays that were written over 2,400 years ago ? For most of my life, the mention of Greek plays was on a par with cod liver oil. Probably good for me, but best avoided if possible. I admit, it was the airhead-lite approach. Recently, I finally buckled down and decided it was now or never. I'm not sorry I did.
The four plays by Sophocles in this collection deal with Iliad spinoffs---events connected to that ancient epic with some of the Trojan War characters already known to the Greeks of the author's time---with legends of the gods (Hercules or Heracles, as they write it) or with both at once. Each play uses a chorus to reflect inner thinking or thinking by "other people", whoever they may be. The translation in this volume brings a modicum of modern English to the plays, rendering them very understandable. Purists might not appreciate that, but I, for one, found myself better able to follow the deeper meanings of the plays because I didn't have to wade through archaic English. (Remember how we struggled through Shakespeare?) AJAX, ELECTRA, WOMEN OF TRACHIS, and PHILOCTETES jolted me out of my neo-airhead tendencies and amazed me by their modernity. Their form may be ancient, stilted to modern eyes, and lacking much action, but the themes reveal human nature as if these plays all were written yesterday. The same dilemmas pose themselves, the same contrasts in human character---the straight and the crooked, the mean and the noble, the forgiving and the vengeful. Actions well meant turn out to have disastrous consequences. Greed and jealousy run rampant. AJAX, the earliest work here, is a little less dramatic than the other three, but does deal with "temporary insanity". I don't have the silver tongue and deconstruction abilities of a literary expert, but if these plays don't knock your socks off---just because of their relevance to 2018 if for no other reason---then I don't know what will. Don't wait 40 years. Delicious cod liver oil, no lie.
August 9, 2023
ترجمه از : محمد سعیدی
که بسیار ترجمه روان و دلنشینی است.
جایگاه تراژدی های سوفوکل و به طبع دیگر تراژدینویسان هم دوره او و به کل دوران طلایی یونان باستان که اسطوره های قدیم را از دل ایلیاد و ادیسه هومر بیرون میشکند در قامت پند دهنده هایی ادیبانه سطحی بالا در تاریخ ادبیات کهن قرار میگیرند که بعد ها جنس فارسی و آشنا تر آنها برای ما را میتوان به قصیده سرایی حافظ تا سنایی و حماسهسرایی های فردوسی اشاره کرد.
همچنین
سوفوکل گویا در هنر های نمایشی ابداعاتی در دوران خود هم داشته که تصور نشستن در پرده نمایش او میتواند برایم جذاب باشد.
که بسیار ترجمه روان و دلنشینی است.
جایگاه تراژدی های سوفوکل و به طبع دیگر تراژدینویسان هم دوره او و به کل دوران طلایی یونان باستان که اسطوره های قدیم را از دل ایلیاد و ادیسه هومر بیرون میشکند در قامت پند دهنده هایی ادیبانه سطحی بالا در تاریخ ادبیات کهن قرار میگیرند که بعد ها جنس فارسی و آشنا تر آنها برای ما را میتوان به قصیده سرایی حافظ تا سنایی و حماسهسرایی های فردوسی اشاره کرد.
همچنین
سوفوکل گویا در هنر های نمایشی ابداعاتی در دوران خود هم داشته که تصور نشستن در پرده نمایش او میتواند برایم جذاب باشد.
January 17, 2022
These plays, particularly Ajax and Philoctetes, are just too good to be true. So many timeless themes of honor v survival, will v fate, family v justice, sorrow, the psychological trauma of war, the unintended consequences of measures taken out of insecurity, the addiction to misery, and the ultimate hollowness of class and rank distinctions when it comes down to it.
Read
December 11, 2025Ajax
Als Ajax, einer der Helden auf griechischer Seite im Trojanischen Krieg, bei der Verteilung der Waffen des Achilles übergangen wird, schwört er Rache. Nur die Intervention Athenas rettet die Griechen vor dem sicheren Tod, indem sie Ajax wahnsinnig werden lässt und der frühere Held Rinder anstelle von Menschen schlachtet. Als Hohn zeigt die Göttin Odysseus, den Erzfeind des Ajax, diesen in seinem geisteskranken Zustand. Doch erst als der Wahn vergeht und Ajax seine Taten realisiert, verzweifelt er an seiner Scham.
Sophokles beschreibt diese Verzweiflung meisterhaft. Ajax kann sich ein Leben mit der Gewissheit seiner Taten nicht vorstellen und wählt den Selbstmord als Ausweg. Seine Frau Tekmessa hingegen fordert ihn auf, an seine Familie und besonders seinen Sohn zu denken, welche in ihren Augen Priorität gegenüber seiner Ehre haben sollten. Um sie zu beruhigen, stimmt Ajax ihr zu und schwört sich nichts anzutun, da er weiß, Tekmessa würde ihn ansonsten niemals gehen lassen. Diesen Betrug erkennt Tekmessa jedoch zu spät und als sie ihn schließlich am Strand entdeckt, findet sie nur noch seinen Leichnam auf.
Damit beginnt der zweite Teil der Tragödie: Menelaos und Agamemnon, die Heerführer der Griechen, verbieten die Bestattung des Ajax. Teukros, dessen leibeigener Bruder, widersetzt sich jedoch, da eine Beerdigung im antiken Griechenland einen hohen Stellenwert hatte und maßgebend für die Überfahrt in das Totenreich war. In dem folgenden Dialog hat mich Teukros schwer beeindruckt; als Sklave behauptet er sich gegenüber Königen und einige seiner sarkastischen Aussagen haben mich auch zum Schmunzeln gebracht.
Schlussendlich wird Odysseus als Rat herbeigezogen und der weiseste unter den Griechen tut das moralisch einzig Richtige und spricht sich für eine Bestattung aus. Damit zeigt Sophokles, dass man mit den Toten Frieden schließen und keinen Groll hegen sollte.
Neben Antigone, stellt Ajax für mich ein Highlight unter den Werken des Sophokles dar. Er beschreibt verschiedene Ansichten eines erfüllten Lebens; Ajax wählt ein Leben und einen Tod als „Helden“, während Tekmessa die familiären Pflichten über alles andere stellt. Diese Problematik zieht sich durch die gesamte Geschichte, seit der attischen Demokratie bis ins 21. Jahrhundert, und es wäre dringend an der Zeit nicht nur an seine eigene Ehre zu denken, sondern auch die Schicksale anderer Menschen bei der Entscheidungsfindung miteinzubeziehen.
—> 4 stars
Die Mädchen von Trachis
In die Mädchen von Trachis geht es um weiblichen Schmerz. Zumindest ist das meine Meinung. Sophokles wollte sicher auch Herakles hervorheben, aber da ich nicht gewillt bin positiv über diesen „Helden“ zu sprechen, konzentrieren wir uns auf die Frauen.
Als Herakles nach 15 Monaten nach Trachis zu seiner Ehefrau Dejaneira zurückkehrt, stellt diese voller Entsetzen fest, dass ihr Gatte seine neue Frau, Iole, mitgebracht hat. In der Hoffnung ihn zurückzugewinnen, tränkt Dejaneira ein Hemd im Blut des Kentaur Nessos, der von Herakles getötet worden ist. Sie weiß dabei nicht, dass dieses Blut vergiftet ist.
Diese Geschichte ist sinnbildlich für das viele Leid, welches Herakles verursacht hat.
Dejaneira wird monatelang ohne ein Wort von ihm allein gelassen, während ihr Gatte sich eine andere Frau zulegt. Aus Liebe glaubt sie naiverweise dem listigen Kentauren und als sich der Liebeszauber als Todesurteil entpuppt, wird sie von ihrem eigenen Sohn des Mordes bezichtigt. Doch eigentlich drängte Herakles Dejaneira zu dieser Tat, indem er ihr unendliche Liebe schwor und sie anschließend betrügt. Dennoch wird ihr die ganze Schuld gegeben und sie schließlich in den Selbstmord getrieben, während Herakles und Hyllos ihren Fehler zu spät einsehen.
Auch Iole, die andere weibliche Rolle, wird von Herakles hintergangen. Der sogenannte Held schockverliebt sich in die Königstochter, brennt anschließend ihre Stadt nieder und tötet ihren Vater. Sie selbst wird als Konkubine verschleppt, wodurch das Dejaneira-Drama erst beginnt. Iole ist somit die tragischste Figur in die Tracherinnen, wobei sie eigentlich keine Schuld trifft.
Zumindest bietet das viele Leid eine großartige Bühne für Sophokles‘ Spezialität: die Emotionen. Diese werden meisterhaft dargestellt, ob Dejaneiras Verzweiflung oder Herakles‘ schmerzerfülltes Ende.
Ein größeres Lesevergnügen meinerseits wurde jedoch dadurch gehemmt, dass ich Herakles als Figur nicht ausstehen kann. Der „Held“ hat zwar die Welt von vielen Monstern befreit, doch mindestens genauso viele Leben zerstört, vor allem die von Frauen (wie die Tracherinnen unschwer zeigt). Auch wenn es sich dabei nur um meine Präferenz und nicht um einen Fehler Sophokles‘ handelt.
—> 3 stars
Elektra
Bei Elektra stehen wieder einmal meine moralischen Werte im Weg einer besseren Sternebewertung. Alles, was ich bisher über Agamemnon gelesen habe, hat nicht gerade meinen Respekt verdient; seine Frau geraubt, die eigene Tochter geopfert und indirekt den Tod des Patroklos verursacht, definitiv kein Vorzeigebürger. Somit kann ich Klytainmestra durchaus verstehen und den Gattenmord nachvollziehen.
Etwas rätselhafter erscheint mir dahingegen Elektras Perspektive. Ich versuche nicht, den jahrelangen emotionalen Missbrauch, den sie von ihrer Mutter und deren Liebhaber erfahren hat, zu schmälern. Dennoch kann ich mir nicht erklären, wie sie blind gegenüber den Gräueltaten ihres Vaters sein kann.
Elektras Schmerz ist dahingegen klar ersichtlich. Ebenso wie ihre Freude als sie den totgeglaubten Orestes nach Jahren erstmals wiedersieht, wobei die Geschwisterliebe für einen schönen Moment sorgte. Womit die Fähigkeit des Dichters Emotionen zu transportieren erneut brilliert.
Interessant fand ich, wie sich Sophokles‘ Tragödien entwickelt haben. In Ajax und Ödipus Rex standen noch die Schicksalsschläge im Vordergrund, während sich in Elektra alles um den Schmerz und das tragische Leben der Protagonistin dreht.
—> 3 stars
Philoktetes
Ähnlich wie in Elektra, stammt die Tragik des Stückes im bisherigen Schicksal des verwundet auf der Insel Lemnos zurückgelassenen Philoktetes. Als im 10. Kriegsjahr ein Orakelspruch jedoch deutlich macht, dass Troja nur mithilfe des Bogens von Philoktetes eingenommen werden kann, schickt Odysseus Neoptolemos, um ihn zurückzuholen, da Philoktetes den Jüngling nicht von früher kennt.
Philoktetes wurde unfassbar schlecht behandelt und Sophokles vermag es, diesen Schmerz für die LeserInnen spürbar zu machen. Ähnliches gelingt ihm bei der Zerrissenheit des Neoptolemos. Der Jüngling – zu diesem Zeitpunkt eher noch ein Kind – muss sich zwischen seinem Gewissen und dem Wunsch nach Ruhm entscheiden. Indem Neoptolemos im Laufe der Tragödie beginnt seine eigenen Entscheidungen zutreffen, reift er schließlich vom Jüngling zum Mann. Durch seine Gewissensbisse erscheint ein sonst so brutal wirkendes Kind menschlich und nahbar.
Odysseus hingegen setzt in Philoktetes untypischerweise auf Gewalt, als Neoptolemos den Trug verweigert. Damit erreicht er jedoch nicht die Kooperation Philoktetes, sondern verliert sogar jene des Neoptolemos. Erst als die Täuschung verworfen wird und die Götter – in diesem Fall menschlicher dargestellt – vermitteln, wird eine Einigung getroffen.
In Philoktetes appelliert Sophokles klar für menschliches Mitgefühl anstelle von Gewalt – vielleicht auch eine Reaktion auf die vielen kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen seiner Zeit. Deswegen und aufgrund der Vielschichtigkeit der Charaktere hat mir diese Tragödie von diesem Quartett am meisten imponiert; es bewegt und regt zum Nachdenken an.
—> 4 stars
Als Ajax, einer der Helden auf griechischer Seite im Trojanischen Krieg, bei der Verteilung der Waffen des Achilles übergangen wird, schwört er Rache. Nur die Intervention Athenas rettet die Griechen vor dem sicheren Tod, indem sie Ajax wahnsinnig werden lässt und der frühere Held Rinder anstelle von Menschen schlachtet. Als Hohn zeigt die Göttin Odysseus, den Erzfeind des Ajax, diesen in seinem geisteskranken Zustand. Doch erst als der Wahn vergeht und Ajax seine Taten realisiert, verzweifelt er an seiner Scham.
Sophokles beschreibt diese Verzweiflung meisterhaft. Ajax kann sich ein Leben mit der Gewissheit seiner Taten nicht vorstellen und wählt den Selbstmord als Ausweg. Seine Frau Tekmessa hingegen fordert ihn auf, an seine Familie und besonders seinen Sohn zu denken, welche in ihren Augen Priorität gegenüber seiner Ehre haben sollten. Um sie zu beruhigen, stimmt Ajax ihr zu und schwört sich nichts anzutun, da er weiß, Tekmessa würde ihn ansonsten niemals gehen lassen. Diesen Betrug erkennt Tekmessa jedoch zu spät und als sie ihn schließlich am Strand entdeckt, findet sie nur noch seinen Leichnam auf.
Damit beginnt der zweite Teil der Tragödie: Menelaos und Agamemnon, die Heerführer der Griechen, verbieten die Bestattung des Ajax. Teukros, dessen leibeigener Bruder, widersetzt sich jedoch, da eine Beerdigung im antiken Griechenland einen hohen Stellenwert hatte und maßgebend für die Überfahrt in das Totenreich war. In dem folgenden Dialog hat mich Teukros schwer beeindruckt; als Sklave behauptet er sich gegenüber Königen und einige seiner sarkastischen Aussagen haben mich auch zum Schmunzeln gebracht.
Schlussendlich wird Odysseus als Rat herbeigezogen und der weiseste unter den Griechen tut das moralisch einzig Richtige und spricht sich für eine Bestattung aus. Damit zeigt Sophokles, dass man mit den Toten Frieden schließen und keinen Groll hegen sollte.
Neben Antigone, stellt Ajax für mich ein Highlight unter den Werken des Sophokles dar. Er beschreibt verschiedene Ansichten eines erfüllten Lebens; Ajax wählt ein Leben und einen Tod als „Helden“, während Tekmessa die familiären Pflichten über alles andere stellt. Diese Problematik zieht sich durch die gesamte Geschichte, seit der attischen Demokratie bis ins 21. Jahrhundert, und es wäre dringend an der Zeit nicht nur an seine eigene Ehre zu denken, sondern auch die Schicksale anderer Menschen bei der Entscheidungsfindung miteinzubeziehen.
—> 4 stars
Die Mädchen von Trachis
In die Mädchen von Trachis geht es um weiblichen Schmerz. Zumindest ist das meine Meinung. Sophokles wollte sicher auch Herakles hervorheben, aber da ich nicht gewillt bin positiv über diesen „Helden“ zu sprechen, konzentrieren wir uns auf die Frauen.
Als Herakles nach 15 Monaten nach Trachis zu seiner Ehefrau Dejaneira zurückkehrt, stellt diese voller Entsetzen fest, dass ihr Gatte seine neue Frau, Iole, mitgebracht hat. In der Hoffnung ihn zurückzugewinnen, tränkt Dejaneira ein Hemd im Blut des Kentaur Nessos, der von Herakles getötet worden ist. Sie weiß dabei nicht, dass dieses Blut vergiftet ist.
Diese Geschichte ist sinnbildlich für das viele Leid, welches Herakles verursacht hat.
Dejaneira wird monatelang ohne ein Wort von ihm allein gelassen, während ihr Gatte sich eine andere Frau zulegt. Aus Liebe glaubt sie naiverweise dem listigen Kentauren und als sich der Liebeszauber als Todesurteil entpuppt, wird sie von ihrem eigenen Sohn des Mordes bezichtigt. Doch eigentlich drängte Herakles Dejaneira zu dieser Tat, indem er ihr unendliche Liebe schwor und sie anschließend betrügt. Dennoch wird ihr die ganze Schuld gegeben und sie schließlich in den Selbstmord getrieben, während Herakles und Hyllos ihren Fehler zu spät einsehen.
Auch Iole, die andere weibliche Rolle, wird von Herakles hintergangen. Der sogenannte Held schockverliebt sich in die Königstochter, brennt anschließend ihre Stadt nieder und tötet ihren Vater. Sie selbst wird als Konkubine verschleppt, wodurch das Dejaneira-Drama erst beginnt. Iole ist somit die tragischste Figur in die Tracherinnen, wobei sie eigentlich keine Schuld trifft.
Zumindest bietet das viele Leid eine großartige Bühne für Sophokles‘ Spezialität: die Emotionen. Diese werden meisterhaft dargestellt, ob Dejaneiras Verzweiflung oder Herakles‘ schmerzerfülltes Ende.
Ein größeres Lesevergnügen meinerseits wurde jedoch dadurch gehemmt, dass ich Herakles als Figur nicht ausstehen kann. Der „Held“ hat zwar die Welt von vielen Monstern befreit, doch mindestens genauso viele Leben zerstört, vor allem die von Frauen (wie die Tracherinnen unschwer zeigt). Auch wenn es sich dabei nur um meine Präferenz und nicht um einen Fehler Sophokles‘ handelt.
—> 3 stars
Elektra
Bei Elektra stehen wieder einmal meine moralischen Werte im Weg einer besseren Sternebewertung. Alles, was ich bisher über Agamemnon gelesen habe, hat nicht gerade meinen Respekt verdient; seine Frau geraubt, die eigene Tochter geopfert und indirekt den Tod des Patroklos verursacht, definitiv kein Vorzeigebürger. Somit kann ich Klytainmestra durchaus verstehen und den Gattenmord nachvollziehen.
Etwas rätselhafter erscheint mir dahingegen Elektras Perspektive. Ich versuche nicht, den jahrelangen emotionalen Missbrauch, den sie von ihrer Mutter und deren Liebhaber erfahren hat, zu schmälern. Dennoch kann ich mir nicht erklären, wie sie blind gegenüber den Gräueltaten ihres Vaters sein kann.
Elektras Schmerz ist dahingegen klar ersichtlich. Ebenso wie ihre Freude als sie den totgeglaubten Orestes nach Jahren erstmals wiedersieht, wobei die Geschwisterliebe für einen schönen Moment sorgte. Womit die Fähigkeit des Dichters Emotionen zu transportieren erneut brilliert.
Interessant fand ich, wie sich Sophokles‘ Tragödien entwickelt haben. In Ajax und Ödipus Rex standen noch die Schicksalsschläge im Vordergrund, während sich in Elektra alles um den Schmerz und das tragische Leben der Protagonistin dreht.
—> 3 stars
Philoktetes
Ähnlich wie in Elektra, stammt die Tragik des Stückes im bisherigen Schicksal des verwundet auf der Insel Lemnos zurückgelassenen Philoktetes. Als im 10. Kriegsjahr ein Orakelspruch jedoch deutlich macht, dass Troja nur mithilfe des Bogens von Philoktetes eingenommen werden kann, schickt Odysseus Neoptolemos, um ihn zurückzuholen, da Philoktetes den Jüngling nicht von früher kennt.
Philoktetes wurde unfassbar schlecht behandelt und Sophokles vermag es, diesen Schmerz für die LeserInnen spürbar zu machen. Ähnliches gelingt ihm bei der Zerrissenheit des Neoptolemos. Der Jüngling – zu diesem Zeitpunkt eher noch ein Kind – muss sich zwischen seinem Gewissen und dem Wunsch nach Ruhm entscheiden. Indem Neoptolemos im Laufe der Tragödie beginnt seine eigenen Entscheidungen zutreffen, reift er schließlich vom Jüngling zum Mann. Durch seine Gewissensbisse erscheint ein sonst so brutal wirkendes Kind menschlich und nahbar.
Odysseus hingegen setzt in Philoktetes untypischerweise auf Gewalt, als Neoptolemos den Trug verweigert. Damit erreicht er jedoch nicht die Kooperation Philoktetes, sondern verliert sogar jene des Neoptolemos. Erst als die Täuschung verworfen wird und die Götter – in diesem Fall menschlicher dargestellt – vermitteln, wird eine Einigung getroffen.
In Philoktetes appelliert Sophokles klar für menschliches Mitgefühl anstelle von Gewalt – vielleicht auch eine Reaktion auf die vielen kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen seiner Zeit. Deswegen und aufgrund der Vielschichtigkeit der Charaktere hat mir diese Tragödie von diesem Quartett am meisten imponiert; es bewegt und regt zum Nachdenken an.
—> 4 stars
February 25, 2024
Previously I had read Oliver Taplin’s translations of Aïas and Philoctetes. So here I read The Women of Trachis translated by Michael Jameson and Electra by David Grene. All together, Sophocles is my favorite among the tragedians, though I still have about half of the works of Euripides left. Euripides according to Plutarch was the better loved by those beyond Athens borders, yet Sophocles was the winningest playwright.
Reviews for Aïas and Philoctetes appear in an earlier review, so here I will only add to a holistic comparison of all four works, and then add specific thoughts on The Women of Trachis and Electra. What thread might connect the four works here are time and the emotions: betrayal and rage, betrayal and rage, betrayal and rage, betrayal and rage.
Ajax tells of the fall of the mighty son of Telamon, of his rage and sense of betrayal in the the brothers Atreus proclaiming Odysseus the winner of the Shield of Achilles. A powerful unsung tragedy of the Trojan War.
The Women of Trachis tells one story of Heracles, and his separation from Deianira for twelve years, only to return with a young girl bride, and the consequences of such on the family. This ought to be compared with Euripides Heracleidae where the outcome is quite different.
Sophocles’ Electra is a powerful work adding to the saga of the family Atreus, of the consequences for the sacrifice of Iphigenia, and of the even older family transgression of Thyestes by Atreus. Here Sophocles diverges from Aeschylus and Euripides in the portrayal of Electra. She is vengeful and bitter, and in a unique way mirrors the just virtues of Antigone while Chrysothemis’ self preservation mirrors Ismene’s conservatism.
Another tale of the Trojan War, Philoctetes is an incredible story about the necessity to recover Philoctetes from Lemnos, where Odysseus and the Greeks abandoned the injured bowman to his screams. His possession of the mark-perfect bow of Heracles is prophesied a requirement for victory. Yet he rages at Odysseus and it is only by his cunning use of Achilles’ son Neoptolemus and the divine intervention of Heracles that Philoctetes is persuaded.
In all, all of these remaining plays are critical to understanding the Homeric epics. Their tales are woven throughout the larger mythology, and it is an understanding of the variations that one can come to understand the depths of Athenian tragic interpretations.
Reviews for Aïas and Philoctetes appear in an earlier review, so here I will only add to a holistic comparison of all four works, and then add specific thoughts on The Women of Trachis and Electra. What thread might connect the four works here are time and the emotions: betrayal and rage, betrayal and rage, betrayal and rage, betrayal and rage.
Ajax tells of the fall of the mighty son of Telamon, of his rage and sense of betrayal in the the brothers Atreus proclaiming Odysseus the winner of the Shield of Achilles. A powerful unsung tragedy of the Trojan War.
The Women of Trachis tells one story of Heracles, and his separation from Deianira for twelve years, only to return with a young girl bride, and the consequences of such on the family. This ought to be compared with Euripides Heracleidae where the outcome is quite different.
Sophocles’ Electra is a powerful work adding to the saga of the family Atreus, of the consequences for the sacrifice of Iphigenia, and of the even older family transgression of Thyestes by Atreus. Here Sophocles diverges from Aeschylus and Euripides in the portrayal of Electra. She is vengeful and bitter, and in a unique way mirrors the just virtues of Antigone while Chrysothemis’ self preservation mirrors Ismene’s conservatism.
Electra
You may be sure I am ashamed, although you do not think it. I know why I act so wrongly, so unlike myself.
The hate you feel for me and what you do compel me against my will to act as I do.
For ugly deeds are taught by ugly deeds.
Clytemnestra
O vile and shameless, I and my words and deeds give you too much talk.
Electra
It is you who talk, not I. It is your deeds, and it is deeds invent the words.
Clytemnestra
Now by the Lady Artemis you shall not escape the results of your behavior, when Aegisthus comes.
Electra
You see? You let me say what I please, and then you are outraged. You do not know how to listen.
Another tale of the Trojan War, Philoctetes is an incredible story about the necessity to recover Philoctetes from Lemnos, where Odysseus and the Greeks abandoned the injured bowman to his screams. His possession of the mark-perfect bow of Heracles is prophesied a requirement for victory. Yet he rages at Odysseus and it is only by his cunning use of Achilles’ son Neoptolemus and the divine intervention of Heracles that Philoctetes is persuaded.
In all, all of these remaining plays are critical to understanding the Homeric epics. Their tales are woven throughout the larger mythology, and it is an understanding of the variations that one can come to understand the depths of Athenian tragic interpretations.
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