The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus Sophocles and Euripides (Modern Library Classics)

About this book

A landmark anthology of the masterpieces of Greek drama featuring all-new highly accessible translations of some of the worlds most beloved plays including Agamemnon Prometheus Bound Bacchae Electra Medea Antigone and Oedipus the King Featuring translations by Emily Wilson Frank Nisetich Sarah Ruden Rachel Kitzinger Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm The great plays of Ancient Greece are among the most enduring and important legacies of the Western world. Not only is the influence of Greek drama palpable in everything from Shakespeare to modern television the insights contained in Greek tragedy have shaped our perceptions of the nature of human life. Poets philosophers and politicians have long borrowed and adapted the ideas and language of Greek drama to help them make sense of their own times. This exciting curated anthology features a cross section of the most popularand most widely taughtplays in the Greek canon. Fresh translations into contemporary English breathe new life into the texts while capturing as faithfully as possible their original meaning. This outstanding collection also offers short biographies of the playwrights enlightening and clarifying introductions to the plays and helpful annotations at the bottom of each page. Appendices by prominent classicists on such topics as Greek Drama and Politics The Theater of Dionysus and Plato and Aristotle on Tragedy give the reader a rich contextual background. A detailed time line of the dramas as well as a list of adaptations of Greek drama to literature stage and film from the time of Seneca to the present helps chart the history of Greek tragedy and illustrate its influence on our culture from the Roman Empire to the present day. With a veritable whos who of todays most renowned and distinguished classical translators The Greek Plays is certain to be the definitive text for years to come. Praise for The Greek Plays Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm deftly have gathered strong new translations from Frank Nisetich Sarah Ruden Rachel Kitzinger Emily Wilson as well as from Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm themselves. There is a freshness and pungency in these new translations that should last a long time. I admire also the introductions to the plays and the biographies and annotations provided. Closing essays by five distinguished classiciststhe brilliant Daniel Mendelsohn and the equally skilled David Rosenbloom Joshua Billings Mary-Kay Gamel and Gregory Haysall enlightened me. This seems to me a helpful light into our gathering darkness.Harold Bloom