Sam Terry > Recent Status Updates

I just finished Euripedes’ Electra. I didn’t fall in love with any of the versions of this story, but having read both Libation Bearers and Sophocles’ account, I do think Euripides’ telling was the most interesting. It does poke fun at some of the implausible plot devices of the other plays, and it also shifts the audience’s sympathy away from Electra and Orestes and towards Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus.

Iphigenia at Tauris may be my favorite play of the two volumes so far. It has some of the most beautiful language of any of the Greek tragedies I have read and is full of humor. The reunion plot is great. Putting a pin in this one because I would like to revisit other translations. I want to get to Iphigenia at Aulis too but that one wasn’t included in this anthology.

I have been liking David Grene’s translations more than Lattimore’s. I enjoyed Sophocles’ Electra, but I’m a little uncertain about the message. It ends in triumph rather than tragedy, and we do not see Orestes reflect on the weight of his actions. There is a sort of morbid satisfaction in seeing the usurper get his due, but I guess I don’t know what we’re meant to learn about justice.

Finished Libation Bearers. I have found Lattimore’s translations a little more difficult than Grene’s but this was easier than Agamemnon. I’m a little confused by Orestes’ sense of remorse at the end, but maybe I can clarify some of his remarks by looking at another translation. I wonder if things will ever start to look up for the house of Atreus. Outlook not so good

Starting with the Lattimore translation of The Libation Bearers. Like his translation of Agamemnon, I have found this a little difficult compared to some of the other translations I’ve read. I didn’t think his Iliad was so tough, but apparently Lattimore tends to be more faithful to the original Ancient Greek texts so that may account for some of the difficulty.

I took some notes as I read, so if I think to I will try to come back to update this after my vacation. For now, all I can say is Holy Shit

I just finished Antigone and it is probably my favorite so far. Maybe Prometheus Bound after that. The Elizabeth Wyckoff translation was as good as the David Grene ones. I’m still shocked that Lattimore’s Agamemnon was as difficult as it was but it has me questioning my loyalty a bit. Maybe I will do Fagles’ Odyssey instead

Oedipus Rex ought to end with the theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm

Oedipus the King is the only one of these I’ve actually read before, but that was 10 years ago and it was the Fagles translation. I remember enjoying it and have been meaning to revisit it. I’m a little relieved that Lattimore was only responsible for Agamemnon because so far the Grene translations in this collection are way easier to read.

Prometheus Bound was oddly bleak, but I enjoyed the translation a lot more than Lattimore’s Agamemnon. Prometheus drops some of the coldest bars of all time. Free my boy

The David Grene translation of Prometheus Bound is far to read so far than Agamemnon was. The Agamemnon translation was credited to Richmond Lattimore but syntactically it seemed a lot more baroque than his translation of the Iliad so I assume he was credited for making adjustments to an earlier translation.

Agamemnon finished. Really cool but I don’t have time to unpack it right now so I will circle back later with my notes

Ohhhhh so that’s why this one is called Agamemnon

I haven’t picked this up in a week or so but I’ve resolved to finish it this year. Agamemnon is tough so far, but I loved the Iliad so I’ve grown really fond of these characters. I’m pretty sure the translation of Agamemnon used here was done by H. W. Smyth so I wonder if I wouldn’t find a more recent translation easier to follow .

I picked this up because I saw that Richmond Lattimore edited it but so far I’m finding the translation of Agamemnon pretty difficult to parse. I have been too busy too make much progress but hopefully I’ll be able to make more sense of it next week.

A friend and linguist sent this to me for my 18th birthday. It looks short, but I’ve found that Chomsky’s work demands some scrutiny. I’m only about halfway through the first lecture and I’ve been giving him total hell in the margins. It’s nice that he uses examples from Spanish though

The fun continues! I liked Lattimore’s translation of the Iliad and you don’t change horses in the middle of a race. I do wish Richard Martin wrote an introduction to this edition, too, but maybe a lot of that material would be redundant. In any case I’m glad to hear more from Lattimore in this introduction.

“Just love people for who they are, and for all the things they’ve chosen to keep away from you.”