| ||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Medea and Other Plays : Medea; Hecabe; Electra; Heracles (Penguin Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Product Description
Medea, in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking and horrific of all the Greek tragedies. Dominating the play is Medea herself, a towering and powerful figure who demonstrates Euripides' unusual willingness to give voice to a woman's case. Alcestis, a tragicomedy, is based on a magical myth in which Death is overcome, and The Children of Heracles examines the conflict between might and right, while Hippolytus deals with self-destructive integrity and moral dilemmas. These plays show Euripides transforming the awesome figures of Greek mythology into recognizable, fallible human beings.
About the Author
Euripides was an Athenian born in 484BC. A member of a family of considerable rank, he disliked performing the public duties expected of him, preferring a life of introspection. He was not a popular figure, and at some point (and for a reason unknown) he went into voluntary exile at the court of Archelaus, King of Macedon. He died c.407BC and is thought to have written around ninety-two plays, of which seventeen survive.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Carefully translated, this informative copy allows for both first time readers and experts to enjoy Medea, Heracles and Electra. The sordid tales of tragedy are poetically woven into spoken form by Euripedes, and footnotes help the reader understand such oddities such as Medea's magical powers, or the murder of Electra's father. A highly enjoyable read, the Penguin Classics have again created a compilation useful in study and enjoyable in leisure.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had to read both Medea and Hecabe as part of background reading to some courses on Greek Mythology and Shakespeare during my degree. 'Medea' came as a surprise offshoot mythological tale to the aftermath of Jason (from the Argonauts) and Medea's union towards the end of Apollonius' 'Jason and the Golden Fleece'. The romantic, flowery love affair we see at the end of the tale turns out a sordid, tragic affair some 10 years later in Euripides' version after they're married with children. Betrayal, jealousy, self-doubt and eventual infanticide and suicide makes it one of the most horrific tales of human tragedy.
What makes Euripides so brilliant is his very human portrayal of the characters. You feel for them, you empathize with them, and you can anticipate their every emotional decision and thoughts of self-reflection. 'Hecabe', similarly deals with the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War and the death of the Trojans at the hands of the Achaens. Hecuba is the wife of Priam and mother of all the major Trojan warriors: Hector, Paris, Aeneus. She is grieving for the death of her husband and all her sons, except one and her daughter. She witness their deaths too, and her agony at the merciless hands of the Greeks (including Odysseus, whom we see here as very severe and inhumane, in contrast to his central heroic role in The Odyssey) make her suffering tragic beyond words. It was recently played in the West End by two productions in 2005.
I would suggest this book simply for the mastery of Euripides and his psychological dimension in human tragedy. Just because it is 'ancient' literature and a translation of the old Greek, does not in any way detract it from being so relevant and significant to the modern world. Raw human emotions, and you don't get that in today's literature much.
What makes Euripides so brilliant is his very human portrayal of the characters. You feel for them, you empathize with them, and you can anticipate their every emotional decision and thoughts of self-reflection. 'Hecabe', similarly deals with the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War and the death of the Trojans at the hands of the Achaens. Hecuba is the wife of Priam and mother of all the major Trojan warriors: Hector, Paris, Aeneus. She is grieving for the death of her husband and all her sons, except one and her daughter. She witness their deaths too, and her agony at the merciless hands of the Greeks (including Odysseus, whom we see here as very severe and inhumane, in contrast to his central heroic role in The Odyssey) make her suffering tragic beyond words. It was recently played in the West End by two productions in 2005.
I would suggest this book simply for the mastery of Euripides and his psychological dimension in human tragedy. Just because it is 'ancient' literature and a translation of the old Greek, does not in any way detract it from being so relevant and significant to the modern world. Raw human emotions, and you don't get that in today's literature much.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This volume contains four plays by Euripides which deal with women; Euripides in antiquity was criticised for his negative portrayal of women but these plays complicate the situation - Alcestis and Heracles' daughter are straightforwardly good, and the stories of Medea and Phaedra are far from being black and white.
These are very interesting plays and in many ways quite dark and disturbing. They do however make observations about the treatment of women in ancient Greece and raise questions of morality which are pertinent today. As such, they are well worth reading.
The translations are fairly close to the Greek as far as I can tell, and each play is prefaced by an essay discussing the main themes and moral questions Euripides raises. The notes at the back were also very useful for explaining the obscurer references to mythology contained in the plays.
These are very interesting plays and in many ways quite dark and disturbing. They do however make observations about the treatment of women in ancient Greece and raise questions of morality which are pertinent today. As such, they are well worth reading.
The translations are fairly close to the Greek as far as I can tell, and each play is prefaced by an essay discussing the main themes and moral questions Euripides raises. The notes at the back were also very useful for explaining the obscurer references to mythology contained in the plays.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Love this play
I only read the Medea so the review is only for this play. Medea is a very good play and although what happens is horrific, it shows the pain that she went through and how to make... Read more
Published 3 months ago by xostar
Tragedy? What tragedy?
The only tragedy here is written between the covers of the book which arrived in perfect condition and on time. No-one needed to die outside of this books contents. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Emma Paine
Bared to The Wire.
Although writing around 450B.C., Euripedes still holds importance for anyone interested in modern drama. Indeed, I came to Euripedes et al. Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2009 by Mr. H. C. Orr
medea
i was studying 'medea' for AS level classics, but if you are interested in greek tragedy and havent read any before then this would be a good place to start as medea is quite an... Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by pepper is a dog
Not Exactly Cheery!
Euripides wasn't exactly known for his light hearted approach to drama, but these are exciting plays. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2007 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
Not for me
Interesting but hard to get into and simply not for me. I had to read it for a course and was glad when I finished it. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2007 by M. C. Batson
is there anyone better in greek literature than Medea?
Medea's always been my favourite woman in greek myth - its easy to dismiss her as a villain but she's just such a complex individual - one minute you feel sorry for her, then you... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2004 by "small_thing"
Hell Hath no Fury
I really thought that thse plays would be tough going. I read the first page of,'Medea' and was hooked!
The women in these plays really did suffer (as did Heracle). Read more
The women in these plays really did suffer (as did Heracle). Read more
Published on 1 July 2002 by "mica2002"
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
