Medea

by Robinson Jeffers, Luca Scarlini (Translator), Euripides

Judith Anderson was triumphant as Medea in New York, winning the Tony Award as Best Actress. Critics and audiences alike agreed that this adaptation of the Greek classic reaffirms Jeffers' preeminent place among modern poets. Revived with Zoe Caldwell in 1982 to further award-winning acclaim, this seminal drama of love, betrayal, and revenge has stood the dramatic test of time.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Poetry, Theatre, Classics, School, Fiction

104 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

Collections of American poet John Robinson Jeffers, who sets many of his works in California, include Tamar and Other Poems (1924).

He knew the central coast and wrote mostly in classic narrative and epic form. Nevertheless, people today know also his short verse and consider him an symbol of the environmental movement.

The Harry Ransom humanities research center at the University of Texas at Austin and the libraries at Occidental College, the University of California, and Yale University collect many manuscripts and materials of Jeffers. Survivors published a collection of his letters posthumously as The Selected Letters of Robinson Jeffers, 1887–1962 (1968). Jeffers wrote other books or criticism and poetry: are: Poetry, Gongorism, and a Thousand Years (1949), Themes in My Poems (1956), Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems (1965), The Alpine Christ and Other Poems (1974), What Odd Expedients" and Other Poems (1981), and Rock and Hawk: A Selection of Shorter Poems by Robinson Jeffers (1987).

Stanford University Press recently released a five-volume collection of the complete works of Robinson Jeffers. In an article titled, "A Black Sheep Joins the Fold", written upon the release of the collection in 2001, Stanford Magazine ably remarked that due to a number of circumstances, "there was never an authoritative, scholarly edition of California’s premier bard" until Stanford published the complete works.

Biographical studies include George Sterling, Robinson Jeffers: The Man and the Artist (1926); Louis Adamic, Robinson Jeffers (1929); Melba Bennett, Robinson Jeffers and the Sea (1936) and The Stone Mason of Tor House (1966); Edith Greenan, Of Una Jeffers (1939); Mabel Dodge Luhan, Una and Robin (1976; written in 1933); Ward Ritchie, Jeffers: Some Recollections of Robinson Jeffers (1977); and James Karman, Robinson Jeffers: Poet of California (1987). Books about Jeffers's career include L. C. Powell, Robinson Jeffers: The Man and His Work (1940; repr. 1973); William Everson, Robinson Jeffers: Fragments of an Older Fury (1968); Arthur B. Coffin, Robinson Jeffers: Poet of Inhumanism (1971); Bill Hotchkiss, Jeffers: The Sivaistic Vision (1975); James Karman, ed., Critical Essays on Robinson Jeffers (1990); Alex Vardamis The Critical Reputation of Robinson Jeffers (1972); and Robert Zaller, ed., Centennial Essays for Robinson Jeffers (1991). The Robinson Jeffers Newsletter, ed. Robert Brophy, is a valuable scholarly resource.

In a rare recording, Jeffers can be heard reading his "The Day Is A Poem" (September 19, 1939) on Poetry Speaks – Hear Great Poets Read Their Work from Tennyson to Plath, Narrated by Charles Osgood (Sourcebooks, Inc., c2001), Disc 1, #41; including text, with Robert Hass on Robinson Jeffers, pp. 88–95. Jeffers was also on the cover of Time – The Weekly Magazine, April 4, 1932 (pictured on p. 90. Poetry Speaks).

"Jeffers Studies", a journal of research on the poetry of Robinson Jeffers and related topics, is published semi-annually by the Robinson Jeffers Association.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew neither that Robinson Jeffers had adapted the Medea of Euripides nor that it had become a huge hit on Broadway when it premiered in 1947. You can watch a production of Jeffers’s Medea here.

[raya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Medea. She made some awful decisions, yes, but I still love her. Jason on the other hand.....

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUTSTANDING translation of this great Greek classic.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

😳😳😳 it's amazing and I want to see it in person I'm not comfortable with how sympathetic I am to Medea.

[Helena Ristanovic Clifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good! read out loud with my friends. medea is ultimate girlboss

[Jimmy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We must not think too much:
people go mad
If they think too much."

This play is metal af

[Lizzy Fogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

whatta ride

[Saskia]

this was much better than the random pdf version I found on Google

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the version "freely adapted" by Robinson Jeffers. It was, well, Medea. With everything that contains - good and bad. Somehow I remember reading versions where Medea was more sympathetic. This version has her quite spastic and erratic and lacks grounding of emotion in her words. I can see how a good actress could overcome that, though.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting play, Medea is a complicated character, supper analitical and a good planner. I'm not going to lie, it's hard to assimilate what she wants to do to her own children, but at the same time it's one of does results from suffering a trauma that society doesn't really want to talk about.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hear the translation you read is key to your enjoyment. And it's still difficult to enjoy! I mean, infanticide??? Really? I guess it's the ultimate in Greek tragedies... Still and yet, a great story about people and the suffering they perpetrate.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully poetic translation of Medea. When comparing this to other translations in my literature group, I realized how fortunate I was to have stumbled upon this one. Robinson Jeffers transforms the typically dry text of this classic play into a chilling and heart-stirring read.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

well one of the big lessons in this book is hell has no fury like a woman scorn. had to read this for AP lit next school year not a bad read at all

[Sonam Wangden]

women and wrath compliment one another like wine does to bread.

[Dean Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://1001daysofdreaming.blogspot.co...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5.

[Czar · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hate is a bottomless cup, I will pour and pour."

Brutal.

[Magic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, loved the play.

[Brian McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and riveting translation. So accessible.

[Cassie Fleurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard about her character but i am amazed by the quality of this story.Her anger is outstandingly deployed in beautiful prose.

[Amanda Lavelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Can’t say this was enjoyable but it packed a big emotional punch.