The Oresteia

Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

Aeschylus, W. Stanford, Robert Fagles

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Penguin Classics
01 April 1978

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Plays & playscripts; Penguin Black Classics

The only trilogy in Greek drama that survives from antiquity, Aeschylus' The Oresteia is translated by Robert fagles with an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W.B. Stanford in Penguin Classics.

In the Oresteia Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. As they move from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration. In Agamemnon, a king's decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution; The Libation Bearers deals with the aftermath of Clytemnestra's regicide, as her son Orestes sets out to avenge his father's death; and in The Eumenides, Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, The Oresteia is a compelling tragedy of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) was born near Athens. He wrote more than seventy plays, of which seven have survived, all translated for Penguin Classics- The Supplicants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides.

If you enjoyed The Oresteia, you might like Euripides' Medea and Other Plays, also available in Penguin Classics.

By: Aeschylus
Edited by: W. Stanford
Translated by: Robert Fagles
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 232g
ISBN: 9780140443332
ISBN 10: 0140443339
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 01 April 1978
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Aeschylus was born of noble family near Athens in 525 BC. He took part in the Persian Wars, adn his epitahp represents him as fighting at Marathon. He wrote more than seventy plays, of which only seven have survived.

Reviews for The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

Though it's tempting to imagine the late English poet laureate's long tortured relationship with the image of (his wife) feminist heroine Sylvia Plath as its subtext, this vivid free-verse translation of Aeschylus' dark and bloody tragic trilogy (comprising Agamemnon, Choephori, and Eumenides) more properly evinces Hughes's wide range of interests and mastery of classic literatures. His nearly conversational rhythms produce an arresting mixture of colloquialism and formality, enlivened by strong imagery (as in the matricidal Orestes' declaration that This house has been the goblet / That the demon of homicide, unquenchable, / Has loved to drain ), and only infrequently weakened by astonishing woodenness - as in Clytemnestra's cool reply to the Chorus who lament her murder of her husband: You think I'm an irresponsible woman? / You are making a mistake ). Perhaps not the ultimate acting edition it claims to be, but, still, an essential further installment in the always interesting oeuvre of a gifted poet who was also a diligent scholar. (Kirkus Reviews)