Waterstones Oresteia: Agamemnon. Libation-Bearers. Eumenides
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Price: £24.95
Brand: Waterstones
Description: The tragic cycle of justice. Aeschylus (ca. 525-456 BC), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art forms, witnessed the establishment of democracy at Athens, fought against the Persians at Marathon and probably also at Salamis, and had one of his productions sponsored by the young Pericles. He was twice invited to visit Sicily, and it was there that he died. At Athens he competed for the tragic prize at the City Dionysia about nineteen times between circa 499 and 458, and won it on thirteen occasions; in his later years he was probably victorious almost every time he put on a production, though Sophocles beat him at least once. Of his total of about eighty plays, seven survive complete. The first volume of this new Loeb Classical Library edition contains fresh texts and translations by Alan H. Sommerstein of Persians (472), on the recent war, the only surviving Greek historical drama; Seven against Thebes (467), the third play of a trilogy, on the conflict between Oedipus' sons which ends when they kill each other; Suppliants, the first or second play of a trilogy, on the successful appeal by the daughters of Danaus to the king and people of Argos for protection against a forced marriage to their cousins (whom they will later murder, all but one); and Prometheus Bound (of disputed authenticity), on the terrible punishment of Prometheus for giving fire to humans in defiance of Zeus (with whom he will later be reconciled after preventing his overthrow). The second volume contains the complete Oresteia trilogy (458), comprising Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, and Eumenides, presenting the murder of Agamemnon by his wife, the revenge taken by their son Orestes, the pursuit of Orestes by his mother's avenging Furies, his trial and acquittal at Athens, Athena's pacification of the Furies, and the blessings they both invoke upon the Athenian people. This edition's third volume offers all the major fragments of lost Aeschylean plays, with brief headnotes explaining what is known, or can be plausibly inferred, about their content, and bibliographies of recent studies. Waterstones Oresteia: Agamemnon. Libation-Bearers. Eumenides - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9780674996281
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9780674996281
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Author: lexo1941
Rating: 5
Review: I can't agree with the other review that describes this translation as 'wooden'. The Loeb classics are for people studying the original language, who want a reliable translation that will convey the meaning of the original as clearly as possible, given that the original is on the facing page. They are not meant to be read as exciting new adaptations of the original into the target language, in the manner of (say) Robert Fagles' excellent Penguin adaptations (I wouldn’t call them translations) of Aeschylus. To give you an idea of what I mean, there is a moment in the 'Choephoroi' (l. 929 in the original) where Klytaemestra exclaims something along the lines that the terrifying dream she'd had of her own death was indeed prophetic. Sommerstein translates this with great precision as 'The dream that terrified me was truly prophetic indeed!' However, Fagles does something rather unexpected; he gives the line to Orestes, and makes it ‘Yes! / That was the great seer, that terror in your dreams.’ It’s very dramatic, but it’s not what Aeschylus wrote, and it’s not hinted in the notes that it’s not what Aeschylus wrote. So, if you want to read a version of Aeschylus that reads as very good English-language poetic drama but which takes great liberties with the text and doesn’t bother to provide justifications for them, by all means enjoy Fagles. If you want to read Aeschylus’s text, alongside one version of his meaning in English, read this.
Author: David Evans
Rating: 4
Review: Very pleased with the book as such but the translation though an improvement on its predecessor is somewhat wooden.
