الکترا (متون کلاسیک آریس و فیلیپس)

King Agamemnon is long dead and his murderers rule at Argos. His son Orestes returns from exile to kill them his own mother Clytemnestra and her seducer Aegisthus. Thus he will release his sister Electra from oppression and reclaim his home and kingdom.This is the only episode from Greek legend treated in surviving plays by all three of the great Athenian tragedians of the fifth century B.C. Aeschylus in his Libation-bearers (part of the Oresteia trilogy), Sophocles and Euripides each in plays called Electra. Together these plays form a unique record of development and divergence in the content and style of tragedy. In Euripides' hands the story becomes a tragedy of all too human emotions and illusions. The revenge of Orestes is subsumed by Electra's hatred and resentment of her mother and the usurper. The killing of Clytemnestra by her children brings them not joy and restoration but revulsion, separation and renewed exile. Unwarned by the gods, they recognise too late the costs to them of executing Apollo's justice. Text with facing translation, commentary and notes. (Aris and Phillips 1988) Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly recreate 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 Herbert Golder and the late William Arrowsmith, each volume includes a critical introduction, commentary on the text, full stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical and geographical references in the plays. This vital translation of Euripides' Electra recreates the prize-winning excitement of the original play. Electra, obsessed by dreams of avenging her father's murder, impatiently awaits the return of her exiled brother Orestes. After his arrival Electra uses Orestes as her instrument of vengeance, killing their mother's husband, then their mother herself - and only afterward do they see the evil inherent in these seemingly just acts. But in his usual fashion, Euripides has imbued myth with the reality of human experience, counterposing suspense and horror with comic realism and down-to-earth comments on life.