Cyclops

by Euripides, David Konstan (Translator), Heather McHugh (Translator)

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. Under the general editorship of Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro, each volume includes a critical introduction, commentary on the text, full stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical and geographical references in the play.

Brimming with lusty comedy and horror, this new version of Euripides' only extant satyr play has been refreshed with all the salty humor, vigorous music, and dramatic shapeliness available in modern American English.

Driven by storms onto the shores of the Cyclops' island, Odysseus and his men find that the Cyclops has already enslaved a company of Greeks. When some of Odysseus' crew are seized and eaten by the Cyclops, Odysseus resorts to spectacular stratagems to free his crew and escape the island. In this powerful work, prize-winning poet Heather McHugh and respected classicist David Konstan combine their talents to create this unusually strong and contemporary tragic-comedy marked by lively lyricism and moral subtlety.

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

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 421

About the author

Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (ca. 480 BC–406 BC) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him, but the Suda says it was ninety-two at most. Of these, eighteen or nineteen have survived more or less complete (Rhesus is suspect). There are many fragments (some substantial) of most of his other plays. More of his plays have survived intact than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because his popularity grew as theirs declined—he became, in the Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education, along with Homer, Demosthenes, and Menander.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.

Reviews

[سـارا · Rating 3 out of 5]

فضای این کتاب با بقیه‌ی کارای اوریپید متفاوت بود. چون اینجا با یه نمایشنامه‌ی ساتیر مواجهه‌ایم که رگه‌هایی از ریشخند و مضحکه رو در خودش داره.
نقطه‌ی قوت این سری نمایشنامه‌های بیدگل پس گفتارهای عالی‌شونه که بنظرم به اندازه‌ی خود نمایشنامه حرف برای زدن دارن.

[Ali Ahmadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

• نه چندان کمدی، نه آنقدر تراژدی
آنچه که از درام یونانی به ما رسیده سی‌واندی تراژدی، یازده کمدی و یک ساتیر —یا به تلفظ یونانی ساتور— است. همین دلیل کافی‌ست که ژانر ساتیر نه آنقدر شناخته شده باشد و نه چندان مهم شمرده شود. البته که در یونان باستان اینطور نبوده. هر سال که جشنواره‌ی دیونیزیای بزرگ برگزار میشد، هر تراژدی‌نویس یک چهارگانه بر صحنه می‌برد: سه تراژدی —که می‌توانستند در پیرنگ به یکدیگر مرتبط یا نامرتبط باشند— و یک ساتیر. ساتیر که بعد از تراژدی‌ها اجرا میشد به تماشاگر فرصت می‌داد تا کمی از سنگینی و سیاهی تراژدی را با شوخ‌وشنگی ساتیر تعدیل کند. با این همه ساتیر کمدی نبود. (عرف این بود که تراژدی‌نویس‌‌ها هیچ وقت به قلمروی کمدی وارد نشوند و کمدین‌ها هم سرشان به کار خودشان باشد.) پس دقیقن چه بود؟ کمبود منابع دست اول، پاسخ دقیق به این پرسش را دشوار می‌کند، اما می‌توان گفت که ساتیر در بیشتر موارد بریده‌ای از یک حماسه یا روایت اسطوره‌ای را می‌گرفت با کمک گرفتن از ساتیرها نقیضه‌ای از آن به‌دست می‌داد. (یک تفاوت مهم کمدی‌ها با نمایش‌های ساتیری این بود که در کمدی شخصیت‌ها و اتفاقات معاصر دستمایه‌ شوخی بودند و چندان خبری از اسطوره‌ها نبود.)

•• نه آنقدر انسان، نه چندان حیوان
ساتیرها چه بودند؟ یک گروه از موجودات افسانه‌ای که به شکل‌های مختلفی به تصویر کشیده شده‌اند، اما در بیشترین موارد موجوداتی مذکر و دوپا هستند که نیمه‌ی بالایشان انسانی (البته با گوش‌ها و دماغی ویژه‌ی خودشان) و نیمه‌ی پایین‌شان بز یا اسب (و با دمی‌ بلند و پاهایی پرمو) است. اما آنچه که بسیار به چشم می‌آمد آلت جنسی بلند و بزرگی بود که نمادی از شهوت بسیار و سرکشی آن‌ها به شمار می‌رفت. ساتیرها به جز فانتزی‌های شهوانی، علاقه‌ی فراوانی به شراب، رقص و کار نکردن داشتند. گاهی عاقل بودند و گاهی ابله، اما در بیشتر موارد غیرقابل اعتماد. نسب‌شان نامعلوم بود، اما دوستان و خدمتکاران دیونیزوس/باکوس بودند و همو بود که تمام این خصلت‌های حیوانی-انسانی را در آنها شعله‌ور می‌کرد.

••• نه آنطور خودخواه، نه اینطور بی‌خود
یکی از به‌یادماندنی‌ترین بخش‌های ادیسه آنجاست که اولیس/ادیسئوس و یارانش به جزیره‌ای می‌رسند که پر است از گوسفند و حیوانات وحشی و غول‌هایی یک‌چشمی به‌نام سیکلوپس —یا به تلفظ یونانی کوکلوپس. اولیس با ترفندهایی عجیب و تلفاتی اندک خودشان را از دست سیکلوپس نجات می‌دهد. اوریپیدس همان داستان را می‌گیرد و به‌جای تقابل مستقیم بین اولیس و سیکلوپس،‌ ساتیرها را به‌عنوان ضلع سوم اضافه می‌کند. ساتیرهایی که با پدر یا مرشدشان سیلنوس اسیر سیکلوپسی به‌نام‌ پولیفموس شده‌اند و در حسرت شراب و دیونیزوس می‌سوزند. (در اغلب نمایش‌های ساتیری مضمون ساتیرهای اسیرشده که قهرمانی نجاتشان می‌دهد وجود دارد.) ساتیرها در مسیر افسانه‌ی هومری دخالتی نمی‌کنند، بلکه با شوخی‌های هزل‌آمیز و سخیفشان رنگ‌وبوی دیگری به نمایش می‌دهند. اما اولیس و سیکلوپس هم فرق‌هایی با ادیسه دارند. اولیس نه حیله‌گری سیّاس، که جنگجویی باشرافت است که میخواهد از سیکلوپس غذا بخرد. و سیکلوپس هم نه غولی احمق، که سفسطه‌گری قهار است و نماد حد اعلی خودمحوری. اوریپیدس هر آنچه که مخاطب آتنی می‌شناخته را به صحنه آورده: اولیس، شهروندی نمونه که نه دزدی می‌کند، نه فرار و نه دوستانش را فراموش؛ سیکلوپس، سوفیستی که تنها به خودش فکر می‌کند و خدایان را تحقیر؛ ساتیرها، حل‌شده در جمعیتی بی‌شکل و لایعقل که هر آنچه که شهروند آتنی نباید باشد را به‌یکجا در خود دارد. از همین صورت‌بندی، تشخیص پایان کار و نتیجه‌ی اخلاقی‌اش چندان سخت نیست.

خوانده‌شده از ترجمه‌ی فارسی شهبازی (بیدگل)
و ترجمه‌ی انگلیسی
Patrick O'Sullivan and Christopher Collard
که هر دو پانویس‌ها و مقدمه‌/موخره‌ی بسیار خوبی دارند.

[Mahvar · Rating 2 out of 5]

نمایشنامه سایکلوپس از اوریپید تنها ساتیرنمای باقی‌ مونده از یونان باستانه؛ اثری که با هجو و طنزی گزنده، اسطوره رو از هیبت تراژیکش عاری می‌کنه. اوریپید تو این اثر، برخورد اولیس با سیکلوپ رو از دل اودیسه هومر برمی‌گیره، اما اون رو با فضای طنزآمیز و بی‌پروای ساتیرنمایی درمی‌آمیزه. سیکلوپ، که در حماسه هومری نمادی از بی‌تمدنی و وحشی‌گریه، اینجا بیشتر مضحک و مسخره به نظر می‌رسه؛ همچنان خطرناک، اما در عین حال مضحکه‌ای از زیاده‌روی و لذت‌جویی کورکورانه. اوریپید با زبانی هوشمندانه، هم اسطوره رو به بازی می‌گیره و هم نقدی اجتماعی ارائه می‌دهه—قدرت، شهوت، و غریزه، وقتی بی‌مهار میشن، چه در یک دیو یک‌چشم و چه در انسان، به یک اندازه مضحک و ویرانگرن‌.

[Roya · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

این نمایشنامه چون تنها درام ساتیری کامل به جا‌مانده از یونان باستانه، اثر منحصربه‌فردی محسوب می‌شه و بین نمایشنامه‌هایی که تا الان از اوریپید خوندم، متفاوت‌ترین‌شون بود. ولی راستش زیاد موردعلاقه‌م نبود و برداشت خاصی هم ازش ندارم :(((

[رزی - Woman, Life, Liberty · Rating 3 out of 5]

من که دیگه اسم غلامرضا شهبازی بشنوم فرار می‌کنم:///
خیلی سخت بود که بعد از خوندن بیشتر نمایشنامه‌های مشهور یونانی با ترجمه‌هایی که خودشون اثری ادبی بودند و چشم و گوش و روحم رو نوازش می‌دادند، و با انتظار همون نثر ادبی و زیبا، بیام اینو بخونم! با اون لحن کوچه‌بازاری بچگانه که لابه‌لاش چندتا کلمه ادبی احمقانه گنجانده شده! غافلگیری بسیار ناخوشایندی بود!

خود نمایشنامه که جالب و زیبا بود. به دوستدارانش (و دیگران!) پیشنهاد می‌کنم حتما آهنگ Remember Them اثر Jorge Rivera-Herrans رو گوش بدن که روایت همین برخورد ادیسه با سیکلوپسه.

[Laleh · Rating 2 out of 5]

وقتی اودیسه‌ی هومر را می‌خوانی و بعد سراغ سیکلوپس اوریپید می‌روی، تفاوت شخصیت سیکلوپ در این دو اثر کاملاً آشکار می‌شود.
در اودیسه، سیکلوپ (پولوفموس) موجودی وحشی و بی‌تمدن است که نماد بربریت، قانون‌گریزی و بی‌اعتنایی به مهمان‌نوازی به شمار می‌آید. اودیسئوس با هوش و نیرنگش او را شکست می‌دهد و این تقابل در واقع پیروزی عقل و تمدن بر طبیعت خام و وحشی است.
اما در سیکلوپس اوریپید، همان غول چهره‌ای کاملاً متفاوت دارد؛ او شخصیتی طنزآمیز، لذت‌طلب و عاشق شراب است. در اینجا هدف نویسنده نه خلق صحنه‌ای حماسی، بلکه خنداندن تماشاگر و در عین حال نقد رفتارها و ضعف‌های اخلاقی انسان‌هاست.
سیکلوپ اوریپید جنسی کمیک‌تر و انسانی‌تر دارد و جلوه‌ای از وجه خوش‌گذران و مادی‌گرای انسان را به تصویر می‌کشد.

[Steve]

The sole complete and extant satyr-play, read in the translation of William Arrowsmith.

[Arman Behrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

در يونان باستان علاوه بر ژانرهاي كمدي و تراژدي، يك ژانر ديگر هم وجود داشته به عنوان 'ساتير'.
'ساتير' در واقع نوعي تمسخر روايات موجود و شناخته شده(burlesque) بوده كه هم-سرايان اش رو ساتيرها تشكيل ميدادند و يحتمل به دليل نقش محوري 'ديونيزوس' در هنر نمايش آتن موجوديت يافته.
عنصر نقيضه(parody) در مقايسه با هجويه( farce) محوريت طنزآميزي اين آثار رو تشكيل مي داده است. در انتهاي كتاب يك پس-گفتار ارزشمند وجود داره كه به تفصيل تمام اين موضوعات رو توضيح ميده.
خود نمايش به شكل غافلگيركننده اي خنده دار و لذت بخشه.

[Oblomov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike the gory hilarity of the Bacchae, here Euripides intentionally wrote a comedy, and it is the only full Satyr play still in existence (a burlesque type performance with a group of Satyrs replacing the usual chorus). As comedies go, Euripides is not quite up there with Aristophanes, and he should perhaps have stayed in his usual place on the comedy ladder: underneath it, so others may take the piss out of him.

The plot is taken from the well known Cyclops incident in The Odyssey: come to the island for supplies, get kidnapped by a Cyclops, Noman, burning sticks, and Odysseus completely undermines this line from the beginning of his wikipedia article:

Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility

by deliberately revealing his true name as he escapes the injured and extremely peeved Cyclops. A Cyclops who's Dad is Psoeidon. Psoeidon who is the God of the sea that Odysseus is currently sailing on. It's a nice example of the Greek's obsession with slapping down hubris, but it seems mightily out of place for a man lauded as some clever epic hero, both during the Odyssey and the Trojan War.

As for the comedy itself, Euripides is, again, no Aristophanes. The imprisoned shepherd and Satyr Silenus, who rats out Odysseus at the first sign of danger to himself and thus gets half the crew eaten, has a less funny and frankly more horrific comeuppance. Odysseus gets the Cyclops drunk so they can stab him in the soft part, but rather than quickly falling into a drunken slumber, the giant Cyclops grins at Silenus, proclaims him his Ganymede and proceeds to drag him into the cave. Jesus... Silenus, it seems, is saved before the Cyclops does a Zeus on him but its the most uncomfortable 'joke' here.

This isn't my favourite Euripides. There's no compelling moral quandries like in Medea, no likeably boisterous Hercules as in Alcestis and no series of roaringly gruesome, 'what the hell was that?' antics like in the Bacchae. There's just the argument of why eating people is wrong, which isn't really an intellectual conundrum most of us muse over, at least not until we truly hit the days of Soylent Green, and Odysseus' silver tongue is lost on the Cyclops anyway: an immovable, inhuman character that embodies amorality.
A disappointment and I'm kind of glad I have nothing but Euripides' more meaty tragedies left to read.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Porque sentimos compasión de nuestra espalda y espinazo y no deseo echar fuera mis dientes por causa de los golpes, ¿eso lo llamas cobardía?"

Este drama satírico es el único conservado de los tres grandes: Esquilo, Sófocles y Eurípides, pues generalmente se presentaban 3 tragedias y 1 drama satírico sin embargo de los demás han quedado puras tragedias.
El tema obviamente narra el encuentro entre Odiseo y Polifemo, hay desde luego algunas variaciones a la historia de Homero para poder hacerla más divertida. En la isla del gigante habitan los sátiros supuestamente esclavizados. Sileno que es el padre de todos hablará permanentemente con Odiseo. A pesar de su estilo tiene aspectos serios al ser un drama, no es totalmente una comedia lo que la hace una pieza un poco extraña y sin mucha intensidad. Las burlas al Cíclope y al propio Odiseo son la parte más divertida pero en general no me gustó mucho.

[Ziba Ghodsifar · Rating 2 out of 5]

داستان خود نمایشنامه به‌طور کلی جالب بود و ارزش یک‌بار خواندن را دارد ولی نمی‌توان آن را در زمره شاهکارهای نمایشنامه‌نویسی کلاسیک به شمار آورد. قسمت مفیدتر و حتی جالب‌تر کتاب مقاله‌ای است که در پایان کتاب پیوست شده است و درباره نمایشنامه‌های 《ساتیر》 توضیح داده است.

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çok kısa bir oyun. Odysseus’un tek gözlü dev Kyklops ile karşılaşması ve sonrasında gelişen olaylar. Günümüze kadar gelen tek satyrikon drama olması onu kaçırılmaması gereken bir okuma yapıyor.

[Alp Turgut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Homeros'un Odyssey eserindeki Odysseus'un Kyklops ile macerasını oyunlaştıran Euripides'in "Kyklops / Cyclops" oyunu oldukça kısa olması sebebiyle keyifle okunabilen bir tragedya. Homeros'u okuyanlar için çok da farklı bir okuma keyfi sunmasa da olaylara detaylı bakabilmesi açısından mitolojik anlamda önemli.

15.07.2021
İstanbul, Türkiye

Alp Turgut

[Mehmet]

Euripides'in bugüne gelmeyi başaran 19 eserinden birisini okuma şansıdır bu aslında. Medeia, Hekabe
Bakkhalar, Yakarıcılar, Alkestis, Andromakhe ve Elektra ile birlikte 8. sini tamamlamış oluyorum. Bu eser diğerleri kadar bariz bir hikayeye sahip gibi gelmedi bana. Açıkçası tadımlık bir eser. Hemen bitiverdi.

[Grace Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing to read a Satyr-play between all these tragedies!

"'But the man's a fool who drinks by himself.' 'It's the wise man who stays at home when he's drunk.'"

"'The wine kissed me - for my beautiful eyes.' 'Watch out. You love the wine; it doesn't love you."

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cyclops' only claim to fame is that it's the world's only complete surviving Satyr play. In Athenian drama festivals, each playwright submitted four plays: a tragic trilogy and a concluding satyr play, which is a retelling of a classic myth with the addition of a bunch of dudes dressed as satyrs. With boners. Boners were an integral ingredient of the satyr play.

Euripides' luckily-saved satyr play is, as you may have guessed, a retelling of the famous episode from The Odyssey where Odysseus fools the Cyclops and gets half his crew eaten in the process.

It's fairly entertaining, I guess. I mean, I think we can all agree that most stories would be improved by having a bunch of drunks prancing around in the background with their boners out, whether or not that has anything at all to do with the plot.

But it's not at all the best work Euripides did; it all seems pretty tossed off.

It also includes, by the way, a rape joke that gathered some attention a while back. (Context: Polyphemus the cyclops gets Silenus the satyr drunk and then rapes him.) Not because it's unusual - Greek drama is chock full of rape, both jokey and not - just because, I guess. Here's a piece about it. The author concludes,

I decided that Euripides, like Amy Schumer, was punching up. The Cyclops scene can be read as a trenchant joke digging into the intensely creepy origins of Athenian rape culture. It subtly calls into question the ethics of a common custom in Athens: the sexually-inflected mentorship of adolescents by older men. And the fact that the rape is preceded by a mock-symposium goes even further, skewering the common sympotic custom of singing songs about desirable young boys.

In other words, Euripides’ rape joke works for me.

So anyway, a) ten points for comparing Euripides to Amy Schumer, b) trigger warning, and c) let's just confirm that this is the official progenitor of this.

I've been getting super sick of Paul Roche's translations, so I switched over to William Arrowsmith's for this one, and I liked it much better. I even skimmed Roche's afterwards for comparison. Arrowsmith wins, although Roche's having ten plays in the same volume is still a pretty big advantage.

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main story is Odysseus and his men come to an unknown land, we’re talking really uncivilised, Odysseus observes that no food is grown and wonders what kind of people would live here. After meeting a group of Satyrs and their father, Selenus, he meets the host and finds out. The host is Cyclops, Odysseus learns quickly how he applies the hospitality rules and has guests for dinner.

This play could be read as a comedy but really in strict Greek drama terms it is a satyr, the one that exists in its complete form. At times it’s bawdy but not as brash as movies like American Pie, as it does not lose its bearings from being a tragedy but it’s a tragedy with wit.

Based on the ninth book of The Odyssey, this loosely follows the same story, Odysseus makes his escape after telling Cyclops he is called no name and injures him after he gets him drunk on wine. The first one of the two big differences between Homer and tale of Cyclops are the action of Odysseus’ men happen off-stage are reported by Odysseus. The second difference is the satyrs and Selenus step in for other characters for Odysseus and Cyclops to exchange words with, this is done with comical affect.

This is the second book I’ve read to help me understand Homer’s The Odyssey better; Lang’s Tales of Troy: Ulysses, the sacker of cities was my first one. Until now these concepts were alien to me, I’ve been comprehending the hospitality rules (and the importance of food) in works by Homer through modern eyes. So, reading this is a beginning for me to grasp this concept better.

This translation was by Heather McHugh, and included an intro and notes by David Konstan, explaining what satyr plays are and how they fit into the annual drama festival, also touching on the importance of it. Also, it gave a comparison between Homer and Cyclops, and suggested how this play would have been staged. All of which further added to my reading experience, where I walked away with a broader understanding than I was expecting.

But the biggest surprise for me was -- Euripides writes comedy!!! Having only read his weighty dramas I had no idea he did this. It was so neat to discover this.

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Drunken Retelling of the Cyclops Saga
11 November 2018

Well, once again that large collection of books containing a bunch of the world’s classical works has come in handy. The reason being is that I don’t seem to have another copy of this particular Euripidean play, so since I have been slowly making my way through all of the Greek plays (and other works) I haven’t had to resort to scouring the internet to attempt to locate a copy, not that that would’ve been too much of a problem. Actually, it has come to my attention that Percey Shelly actually did a translation of the play, which somehow didn’t surprise me in the least.

However, I wouldn’t actually consider it to be what I would consider romantic. Then again, the romance poets probably were more interested in romance in the form of pertaining to Rome as opposed to romance in the form of Mills and Boon. In fact I do wonder at times how it is that the likes of Mills and Boon took the name Romance, since when we use the word Romance in connection to languages, it isn’t that we are suggesting that the language itself is sexy (though some people would beg to differ) but rather that it originated from Latin.

I seem to be drifting a bit here so I better get back on track. I’m surprised that this play didn’t appear in one of the four Penguin volumes of Euripdes’ plays, particularly since there is something very, very unique about it – it is the only extant copy of a satyr play that we have. Satyr plays are basically plays that would be performed after a trilogy of tragedies, and tended to be a lot more light hearted. I guess that should be expected, because if you had just spent the entire day watching three films like, say, Apocalypse Now, you probably would want to finish the day off with something a lot less serious, say Dumb and Dumber. Okay, I’m not suggesting that the Cylops is anything like Dumb and Dumber, particularly since these plays probably wouldn’t be all that suitable for children (not that they actually had ratings back in the days of the Ancient Greeks).

The story itself is pretty straight forward, and would be familiar to those who know the Odyssey. Yes, it is basically the story where Odysseus lands up on the island of the cyclops and has to use all his skills to be able to escape. However, there is an added catch, a bunch of satyrs are here as well, and they have been bound by the cyclops to act as shepherds. The thing with satyrs is that they are happy go lucky types of individuals who like wine, women, song, and basically the good old party atmosphere. Needless to say these satyrs tend to also be pretty crude, you know the big phallus and all that, though this is not necessarily mentioned in the play, it is just that we are pretty well versed in what went on – Greek plays, like Shakespeare’s plays, didn’t have the details stage instructions that many of the plays today have.

In a way, this is a rather light hearted play, though I wouldn’t consider it to be one of those laugh out loud types of plays that Aristophanes would write. However, there are parts that make us think, particularly the idea of law and order. Of course the cyclops, whom we aren’t supposed to sympathise with, you know with the killing and eating of Odysseus’ men and all that, argue that laws only exist to protect the weak from the strong. Well, in a way that is true, expect for the fact that when the strong get into power they have this habit of watering down the laws for their benefit. This happens all to often these days – how many politicians are ever prosecuted for corruption, or corporate leaders ever prosecuted for financial fraud and environmental violations.

Yeah, while we do live in a civil and ordered society, it only ever seems that it is the street criminal that ends up in gaol, and when they end up in gaol it only works to push them further into the arms of the criminal underworld. Then again, in that underworld there certainly is no law, and you will quickly find out that it is there that the strong certainly rule.

[Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mjög skemmtilegt! Þetta er basically bara kýklópaþátturinn í Ódysseifskviðu nema hvað mér fannst Ódysseifur kannski ekki vera málaður í jafn miklu hetjuljósi í þessu verki. Fann alveg smá til með Pólífemosi… ég veit hann ætlaði að borða þá og var með þræla… en hann átti enga vini og vildi bara vera vinsæll!! :’)

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

SILENUS Here's my advice, Polyphemus: don't chew the fat
with the likes of him, that is, unless the fat you chew
is his. I wouldn't let a bit of him be wasted, sir, if I were you.
And after every delicacy's done, and finally you put his tongue
into your mouth, just think how many tongues you'll speak in, then,
preeminent Polyphemus, and all of them as eloquent as his.

Alas for me, this barnyard's
far from Dionysian—nota wine-god to be found, ?o no dancing, no amazing wands or holy ecstasies,
no drums or fountainheads of youth, no wineskin's savor.
Not a single mountain Nymph with whom
to strike up drinking songs
for the goddess Aphrodite. Ah,
SILENUS I greet you, stranger, in return. But tell me what's your name, and nation.
ODYSSEUS I am the lord of Cephallene, from Ithaca. My name's Odysseus.
SILENUS (aside) I've heard of this guy—he's a sponger if I ever saw one!
Son of Sisyphus, the famous pusher. no
ODYSSEUS I am the son of Sisyphus—but spare us the aspersions.
CHORUS LEADER Did you really take Troy, and then take Helen too?
ODYSSEUS We laid waste to the whole of Priam's house.
CHORUS LEADER And tell us, once you had the girl, did you take turns with her?—
the traitoress, craving such multitudes beyond her mate! One look at all those fancy breeches, foreign colors, gold around his neck, and she was in a fever,
sure as sin, and hapless Menelaus left behind,
poor man. Ah, womankind! I say let all of them go down—
and preferably on me!
CYCLOPS You don't say. (To SILENUS) You there! On the double! Sharpen up
my carving knives and get a good blaze going on the hearth.
(SILENUS makes a movement toward the cave) I'll slaughter these offenders
in a flash, and have my fill of them. I think I'll serve one up
as barbecue, straight off the coals; the others should be
delicately braised —for tenderness's sake. I've had
too many mountain meals —enough of lions, 280 deer and such. It's far too long since I enjoyed a man.
SILENUS After so much ordinary venison, my lord, variety is pleasant.
Indeed, it's quite a while since we had guests for dinner.

Good copout: CHORUS LEADER Now tell us, when we have our hands there
on the firebrand, who should be first to grip it, who the second? Under the Cyclops' eyebrow,
actually to grind his lights to dust, just
how shall this huge instrument be handled?
....
CHORUS LEADER Before we go, could you explain exactly how we are to hold the stake
while burning out his eye?
LEADER OF CHORUS A I think my standing too far from the door would not be so effective.
LEADER OF CHORUS B I think I'm suffering from leg cramps.
LEADER OF CHORUS A I think I got a sprain myself, I can't think how.
ODYSSEUS You -sprained your leg while standing there?
LEADER OF CHORUS A Apparently. And now there are 710 some ashes in my eye.
ODYSSEUS My cohorts are turning to cowards.
CHORUS LEADER So it's cowardice to want to save my neck? to want my teeth intact?
I'd rather be a coward then, in fact— for people hurt you when you're brave.
I know an Orphic spell that I could train
on the firebrand, till it rises of its own 720 accord, marches to the Cyclops' skullbone —and then
pow!—it bursts the bastard into flames.
ODYSSEUS I always thought you might be of this kind. It's true: you are untrue. My friends
will be my only surety, at last, before this awful beast.
And you—who find no arms to lend—
can help with some encouragement at least.
Exit ODYSSEUS into the cave.
CHORUS LEADER As long as his own mercenaries
run our risk for us, we'll do the cheerleading. 730
Death to the Cyclops! Let the sucker burn!
CHORUS Hooray for heroes! Stick it to him good!
Tighten the screws on the son of a bitch!
Burn his lookout station down! That's right,
that's right! incinerate the sinner! Ram your point straight home! Not one more guest for dinner! Atta boy, Odysseus! Drive it in, and pull it out, you'll turn the
tables on
his awful appetite. Skewer him deep, past lash and brow; impale his every view. But turn his lights out
as you go: don't let him get 740 a lash at you.

uhoh CYCLOPS Ahoy, ahoy! I nearly drowned in there. What pleasure 1am feeling—I see earth and heaven whirlpooling together. There's the throne of Zeus and all his wheeling retinues!
I think I'll give them each a kiss. I'm feeling quite seduced. eso But I'll be damned if any of those Graces gets me —not a chance! Instead, I'll take this charmer of a Ganymede to
bed. He suits me better. Boys are always more appealing.
SILENUS Who are you talking about? Not me, I hope?
CYCLOPS Oh yes, by Zeus, from whom I'm now about to spirit you away!
SILENUS My sons, I'm done for! This is a fate worse than death.
CYCLOPS You do not like your lovers drunk?
SILENUS By god, the taste of wine is turning sour on me.

[Λευτέρης Πετρής]

Οδυσσέας: Είναι νόμος για τους θνητούς, αν δεν θέλεις να κακονομαστείς,
να δέχεσαι ως ικέτες τους θαλασσοδαρμένους, να τους φιλοξενήσεις,
κι όχι να περνάς τα μέλη τους σε σούβλες βοδιών και να γεμίζεις μ' αυτά το στόμα σου και την κοιλιά σου.

Κύκλωπας: ο πλούτος, ανθρωπάκι μου, είναι των σοφών Θεός.
Τα υπόλοιπα είναι κομπασμοί και λόγια περίτεχνα.
Εγώ ξένε μου δεν τρομάζω με του Δία τον κεραυνό
και δεν ξέρω σε τι είναι από μένα ανώτερος Θεός ο Δίας.
Διότι να πίνεις και να τρως το καθημερινό σου, αυτό είναι Δίας για ανθρώπους μυαλωμένος,
και το να μη στενοχωρείς τον εαυτό σου.
Όσο για εκείνους που νόμους θέσπισαν στολίζοντας των ανθρώπων τη ζωή, να τους κλαίνε λέω.
Την ψυχή μου εγώ δεν Θα πάψω να την κάνω να χαίρεται,
κι εσένα τρώγοντας.
😜

(εκδ. ΖΗΤΡΟΣ, μετάφραση Θ. ΜΑΥΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ)

[Sanam · Rating 4 out of 5]

نمره را به متن نمایشنامه میدهم و نه صرفاً به این ترجمه و این کتاب.
نمایشنامه‌های کلاسیک یونانی را باید و تاکید می‌کنم باید به انگلیسی خواند تا حق مطلب به طور کامل ادا شود.
اما اگر دیوانه‌وار عاشق درامای یونان باستان هستید و جزئیات و سبک به روی صحنه بردن نمایشنامه‌ها برایتان جالب است و توانایی خواندن مطالب را به زبان انگلیسی یا هرچیزی جز فارسی ندارید، این کتاب برای شما عالی‌ست.

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Þetta er nú meiri vitleysan. En voða skemmtilegt. "Enginn meiddi mig" brandarinn fær mig alltaf til að blása fast út um alla vega aðra nösina.

[Jon Catherwood-Ginn · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all--if I can geek-out for a second--it was so refreshing to FINALLY read an ancient satyr play! For years, I've heard echoed again and again the symbolic value of Greek playwrights staging satyr plays--bawdy farces that served as short satirical finales to tragic trilogies--without having any concrete understanding of how said pieces played. While the concept always fascinated me, the unfortunate dearth of extant satyr plays--"Cyclops" is the ONLY one--has left the style exiled from the theatrical canon. After reading this, I can't help but ask: why? How else can fledgling theatre historians draw any tangible connection to the satyr play style if "Cyclops"--our one link to this world--is left off the required reading list?

Stepping down from my holy-shit-that's-nerdy soapbox, Heather McHugh's translation of "Cyclops" was outstanding! The contemporaneity of the translation was edgy enough to make the humor bite, without sacrificing the rich poetry to MTV-era "relevance." This, matched with the play's natural irreverence (drunken monsters, satyr's running around with erect dongs, etc.) would make this play an instant hit with a modern audience. Also, I'm willing to bet this show would sell to a modern crowd because the gulf between contemporary readers' ignorance of ancient geopolitics and classical tragedies' bevy of timely (aka: obscure) references is MUCH slimmer in "Cyclops" than in most Greek tragedies. (Most people know about Odysseus, right?)

Focusing on the titular character, I couldn't help but draw a connection between Euripides' "Cyclops" and John Gardner's depiction of the Dragon in "Grendel." Both characters live in solitude, spurn such societal institutions as religion and government, and opt to satiate what they consider the only truly worthwhile god: their appetite. For each character, gluttony assumes a unique form--Polyphemus feeds his belly while the Dragon hoards wealth. However, in both cases, the author creates gobs of ironic humor by upending readers' expectations of how such "monsters" would behave; the reader comes to the text assuming the Cyclops and Dragon will act as brutish as their infamous reputations' dictate, only to find the characters pontificating eloquently on such issues as law, religion, government, and human desire. ". . . from the mouths of brutes . . ."

While it's unsurprising that Euripides would write a killer funny satyr play (considering the already tragicomic style of his "tragedies"), I wonder how Sophocles & Aeschuylus pulled it off? The latter two tragedians--while wickedly skilled--are famous for their hyper-serious gravity. Could they cut loose like Euripides? Or was the humor in their satyr plays a bit. . . neutered? Might be worth tracking down the excerpts from their lost satyr plays to see how versatile they were.

[Hossein Bayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

ارزش خواندن را برای من داشت. این که یک نوشته تو را می‌برد به ادبیات نمایشی ۲۵ قرن قبل روزگار... واقعاً اعجاب انگیزه!
پی‌نوشت فوق‌العاده ای که کتاب داره؛ در مورد نمایشنامه‌های ساتیر، فلسفه وجودی چنین نمایشنامه‌هایی را توضیح می‌دهد. این که چه طور در این سبک به ریشخند اسطوره ی قدیمی پرداخته می‌شود و حال عبوس تماشاگران در اثر دیدن تراژدی های پیاپی را تغییر می‌دهد. سیکلوپس به عنوان ساتیر سالم باقی‌مانده در این دو هزار و اندی سال، اثر بسیار مهمی است.

[Κωνσταντινος Οδυσσεως]

Απο εκδόσεις Στιγμή το διάβασα

[Oziel Bispo · Rating 3 out of 5]

O ciclope de Eurípides é o único drama satírico grego completo que sobreviveu aos anos, por isso seu valor é imensurável. Eurípedes faz uma sátira do canto IX da odisseia em que odisseu e seus amigos se encontram prisioneiro do terrível monstro e gigante ciclope chamado Polifemo. Nesta versão satírica de Eurípides Odisseu e seus companheiros estão, de volta de Ílion, onde, fugindo dos inimigos, acabaram chegando na Sicília, onde residia Polifemo. Descobriu que lá os Sátiros eram escravos do monstro Ciclope. Lá também encontram o escravo SILENO que em uma ausência momentânea de Ciclope tenta trocar vinho trazido por Odisseu, com cordeiros e leite. Contudo na hora da troca aparece o ciclope Polifemo! Pergunta a causa do translado dos bens e Sileno diz que o forasteiro(Odisseu) se apoderava por roubo. O que acontece a partir daí?Uma sátira deliciosa com a participação de um coral à altura do drama. Gostei 😃.

"Quem tiver duas calças, venda uma e compre este livro."
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg ;).

[Kosar mobini]

«سکلوپس: وای! زشت و درب و داغون شدم!
همسرایان: مست کردی و افتادی تو آتیش؟
سیکلوپس: نه! نه! هیچ کس بود! هیچ کس کورم کرده!
همسرایان: چییییی؟ هیچ کس کورت کرده؟ پس… پس یعنی هیچ کس به تو آسیب زده، آره؟
سیکلوپس: نه، نه، نه! هیچ کس چشمو در آورد! هیچ کس بود!
همسرایان: چی، گفتی که هیچ کس کورت کرد، هیچ کس که کسی نیست، پسسس، تو کور نیستی سیکلوپس، نه؟
سیکلوپس: آخ‌خ‌خ! درد داره! درد بدی داره! امیدوارم یه روز سرتون بیاد!
همسرایان: ولی رئیس، بگو ببینیم، کوری چه جوریاس؟ اگه اون جور که می‌گی، هیچ کس کورت کرده؟
سیکلوپس: بسه دیگه دَسَم نندازین! بگین این هیچ کس کجاس!
همسرایان: کی؟ هیچ کس؟ هیچ کس که هیچ جاس، سیکلوپس. هیچ جاس. هیچ جاس! باد هواس! هیچ جاس!»

[Enzo 87 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las notas extras ayudan mucho a entender estas obras de cultura griega, muy interesante, gracioso en algunos pasajes. Edificante leer estas piezas para saber mas sobre dioses como Hera, Dionisio, Poseidon, Zeus etc

[Caterina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Troya seferi sonrası Odysseus’un yolu Kyklopsların yaşadığı adaya düşer. Kykloplardan biri Dionysos’u kaçıran korsanların peşine düşmüş olan Silenos ve oğullarını esir almıştır. Sonra olaylar gelişir…

Mitolojiye ilginiz varsa bu kısacık tragedyayı keyifle okursunuz. Takıldığınız yerlerde notlar imdadınıza hızır gibi yetişir.

İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları bildiğinizi gibi, notlar dipte değil de kitabın sonunda. Bunun dışında mükemmel çeviri, temiz iş.