Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Image Comics (2022), 136 pages
Description
This is the first English edition with commentary of the play since 1891. Euripides died before completing this late masterpiece and it was prepared for its enthusiastically received first performance by his son or nephew. Over the centuries other hands have contributed to the text we now havebut even so for the most part it shows Euripides at his finest. After Agamemnon has discovered that the Trojan War can only be fought if he sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia, we witness the break-down of the most dysfunctional family in Greek mythology.The characters are expressively and movingly etched; their confrontations are charted with unsurpassed dramatic power; their shifts and changes can take the breath away, especially Iphigenia's transformation from desperate pleading to a heroic acceptance of her tragic destiny.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member clytemnestra215
Iphigenia at Aulis seems to have been constructed in a society in which it was ideal to put nation and family ahead of oneself. (Rather like in China, with their Confucianist ideals.) Euripides seemed to like this approach to duty, as the character who ends up with the ultimate compliment in the
If we were to blame one character, that character could in turn point to another for the blame. We could blame the seer (off the top of my head, I remember his name started Ch- but not much more) for making up a malicious, treacherous method of 'appeasing the gods.' How do we know he didn't just get slighted by Agamemnon at some time and wants to give him hell now? We don't.
The seer would blame it on Agamemnon's own slighting of the gods. Clytemnestra would also blame it on her husband, judging from that marvelous monologue which she goes into about him having killed her first husband and child, and pleading with him not to kill another. He's not exactly on her good side (a point which is later most vehemently illustrated in the Oresteia by Aeschylus).
One might even blame Artemis, but one can't blame a god for being a god, so it's useless to point the finger at her. Humans seem to be insects anyway to these gods. What's one more virgin maid to them?
One can always blame somebody. We might as well blame Orestes. He was crying.
It's no use to look for blame. Anyway, she didn't end up being killed. (Or DID she? Always the clincher. Were they all lying just to appease Clytemnestra?)
Of course, if we're to go based upon "Iphigenia at Tauris," one of Euripides' other dramas, she definitely did get away. How quaint. Yay for deus ex machina. Confetti!
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end - being whisked away by a goddess - portrays these ideals perfectly.If we were to blame one character, that character could in turn point to another for the blame. We could blame the seer (off the top of my head, I remember his name started Ch- but not much more) for making up a malicious, treacherous method of 'appeasing the gods.' How do we know he didn't just get slighted by Agamemnon at some time and wants to give him hell now? We don't.
The seer would blame it on Agamemnon's own slighting of the gods. Clytemnestra would also blame it on her husband, judging from that marvelous monologue which she goes into about him having killed her first husband and child, and pleading with him not to kill another. He's not exactly on her good side (a point which is later most vehemently illustrated in the Oresteia by Aeschylus).
One might even blame Artemis, but one can't blame a god for being a god, so it's useless to point the finger at her. Humans seem to be insects anyway to these gods. What's one more virgin maid to them?
One can always blame somebody. We might as well blame Orestes. He was crying.
It's no use to look for blame. Anyway, she didn't end up being killed. (Or DID she? Always the clincher. Were they all lying just to appease Clytemnestra?)
Of course, if we're to go based upon "Iphigenia at Tauris," one of Euripides' other dramas, she definitely did get away. How quaint. Yay for deus ex machina. Confetti!
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LibraryThing member TadAD
This is the most cynical of the Greek plays I've encountered so far. Agamemnon must choose between sacrificing his daughter, Iphigenia, to ensure fare winds for the fleet or face the wrath of his men who place martial honor far above familial affection. The story casts an unflattering light on the
This is a prose translation by the director of The Court Theater using modern, colloquial English. I found it completely readable. However, I also tried a more traditional version I found online at The Internet Classics Archive and preferred it.
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supposed heroes of the Trojan War; only Achilles comes through with any modicum of grace. The reader's only satisfaction is in knowing the fate awaiting Agamemnon some years hence, and wishing it could be visited on a few others. Killing a daughter for a war whose sole basis is satisfying outraged male pride would seem so foreign to modern sensibilities, but we only have to look at honor killings to see that those sensibilities can be wrong.This is a prose translation by the director of The Court Theater using modern, colloquial English. I found it completely readable. However, I also tried a more traditional version I found online at The Internet Classics Archive and preferred it.
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LibraryThing member rores28
Saw this at an incredibly small and intimate venue in Chicago and was blown away. The play was essentially 85 mins of pure pathos and somehow never grew tiresome or overwrought. I (and my girlfriend) got teary-eyed on a few occasions when [Spoiler Alert!!] Agamemnon had to tell his daughter he was
The music was provided by a lone drum and violin that added to the intimacy and provided a really evocative ambiance.
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going to kill her and when she had resolved to die with honor and actually rejoiced in the decision.The music was provided by a lone drum and violin that added to the intimacy and provided a really evocative ambiance.
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LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Near the end of Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia has offered herself as a sacrificial victim:
"I have decided that I must die. And I shall die gloriously."(p 58) At this point the Chorus echoes her praises, but one wonders at the events that have led to this point and the event that will come to
The story told in this drama by Euripides is one that Athenians knew well. It was told by Aeschylus in his drama Agamemnon, the first play in the trilogy known as The Oresteia. Thus it would have had a tremendous impact on this audience and that impact has continued to this day. In Aeschylus's play the Chorus, made up of the old men of Argos, enters and tells the story of how the Trojan Prince Paris stole Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus, leading to ten years of war between Greece and Troy. Then the Chorus recalls how Clytemnestra's husband Agamemnon (Menelaus' brother) sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia at Aulis to the god Artemis to obtain a favorable wind for the Greek fleet.
The play raises serious questions about the value of an individual life, and under what circumstances that life can be taken. Is the play's central event, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, a pointless waste, or a tragic necessity? Do the players, her father Agamemnon, Achilles, and Iphigenia herself, have a choice or is their fate determined by the gods (Artemis in particular)? Is the war that will be fought as a result of her sacrifice a just cause, or a petty quarrel over individuals and the fate of the beautiful Helen? Is her decision to offer herself an act of heroic patriotism? Acceptance of the inevitable or possibly a sign of madness? These questions and more linger in one's mind during and after reading this powerful drama.
In Euripides play Iphigenia invokes values important to the Greeks (p 58-9); including obedience to the gods, "Artemis has determined to take this my body--can I, a mere mortal, thwart a goddess's will?"; that the community is more important than the individual, the Greeks must prevail over the barbarians, that men are more valuable than women, and that death in defense of these values is glorious and brings everlasting fame, "Sacrifice me and destroy Troy. That will be my epitaph for eternity. That will be my glory,". That the glory that she seeks is one determined by men is an open question. The play also raises questions about the importance of the family as her mother, Clytemnestra and supposed suitor, Achilles, take on important roles.
The translation of this play by Nicholas Rudall is both lucid and poetic in an attempt to capture some of the music that Euripides was famous for. His tragic irony shines through the dialogue. The questions raised in this play are universal in the sense that we still are concerned over the nature of heroism and fidelity to one's community. Euripides won a prize for this drama even though he was no longer present in Athens and had died the previous year. I would recommend this to all who are interested in these questions and their presentation in one of the singular dramas of the Western tradition.n.
"I have decided that I must die. And I shall die gloriously."(p 58) At this point the Chorus echoes her praises, but one wonders at the events that have led to this point and the event that will come to
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follow this moment as the ending turns the drama on its head.The story told in this drama by Euripides is one that Athenians knew well. It was told by Aeschylus in his drama Agamemnon, the first play in the trilogy known as The Oresteia. Thus it would have had a tremendous impact on this audience and that impact has continued to this day. In Aeschylus's play the Chorus, made up of the old men of Argos, enters and tells the story of how the Trojan Prince Paris stole Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus, leading to ten years of war between Greece and Troy. Then the Chorus recalls how Clytemnestra's husband Agamemnon (Menelaus' brother) sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia at Aulis to the god Artemis to obtain a favorable wind for the Greek fleet.
The play raises serious questions about the value of an individual life, and under what circumstances that life can be taken. Is the play's central event, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, a pointless waste, or a tragic necessity? Do the players, her father Agamemnon, Achilles, and Iphigenia herself, have a choice or is their fate determined by the gods (Artemis in particular)? Is the war that will be fought as a result of her sacrifice a just cause, or a petty quarrel over individuals and the fate of the beautiful Helen? Is her decision to offer herself an act of heroic patriotism? Acceptance of the inevitable or possibly a sign of madness? These questions and more linger in one's mind during and after reading this powerful drama.
In Euripides play Iphigenia invokes values important to the Greeks (p 58-9); including obedience to the gods, "Artemis has determined to take this my body--can I, a mere mortal, thwart a goddess's will?"; that the community is more important than the individual, the Greeks must prevail over the barbarians, that men are more valuable than women, and that death in defense of these values is glorious and brings everlasting fame, "Sacrifice me and destroy Troy. That will be my epitaph for eternity. That will be my glory,". That the glory that she seeks is one determined by men is an open question. The play also raises questions about the importance of the family as her mother, Clytemnestra and supposed suitor, Achilles, take on important roles.
The translation of this play by Nicholas Rudall is both lucid and poetic in an attempt to capture some of the music that Euripides was famous for. His tragic irony shines through the dialogue. The questions raised in this play are universal in the sense that we still are concerned over the nature of heroism and fidelity to one's community. Euripides won a prize for this drama even though he was no longer present in Athens and had died the previous year. I would recommend this to all who are interested in these questions and their presentation in one of the singular dramas of the Western tradition.n.
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LibraryThing member aratiel
I really enjoyed reading this play, but the version I saw in London was kind of terrible.
LibraryThing member Eavans
*4.5*
I was able to see this play in all its Rudall translation glory at the Getty Villa last night, and it was one of the most intriguing stories I'd seen in a long time.
While not technically reading, I'm glad I saw this performed. I think it gave it such life and I was much more invested than I
On the surface Iphigenia in Aulis is a side story of the Trojan War, focusing on individuals touched by the drama of Helen's capture. Deeper than that is a domestic embitterment of Iphigenia's parents, and even deeper still is a battle of either living for yourself or for your collective community– the classic conundrum of using your heart or your mind. The options are weighed equally, both scrutinized and debated and felt, and yet all is for null. By the end, fate holds the final decision.
The themes were poignant and heavy, and I think coming from an American perspective of individuality I appreciated them for making me think critically. The pains of each person are totally believable and make you torn for who to root for, or if you can even root for anyone with the injustices and reality they live in. In the end, it was beautifully simple and yet incredibly thought-provoking.
The only thing that made this less than 5 stars was that the monologues could get a bit tedious at times. Achilles' monologue after talking to Clytemnestra for the first time just kept repeating everything we already had just seen. But beyond that, I loved it and would see again in a heartbeat. It's making me want to pick up the rest of his plays and all the other dead Greek dudes, and that's saying something.
I was able to see this play in all its Rudall translation glory at the Getty Villa last night, and it was one of the most intriguing stories I'd seen in a long time.
While not technically reading, I'm glad I saw this performed. I think it gave it such life and I was much more invested than I
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think I would have been just reading it. In school we're often taught how the Greeks performed and had a whole culture of popular plays, and it didn't hit me until I was watching it that I could totally see it. The play was written beautifully, it was intriguing, it was dramatic and funny and sad all at the same time. I actually cried at the end– this was entertainment.On the surface Iphigenia in Aulis is a side story of the Trojan War, focusing on individuals touched by the drama of Helen's capture. Deeper than that is a domestic embitterment of Iphigenia's parents, and even deeper still is a battle of either living for yourself or for your collective community– the classic conundrum of using your heart or your mind. The options are weighed equally, both scrutinized and debated and felt, and yet all is for null. By the end, fate holds the final decision.
The themes were poignant and heavy, and I think coming from an American perspective of individuality I appreciated them for making me think critically. The pains of each person are totally believable and make you torn for who to root for, or if you can even root for anyone with the injustices and reality they live in. In the end, it was beautifully simple and yet incredibly thought-provoking.
The only thing that made this less than 5 stars was that the monologues could get a bit tedious at times. Achilles' monologue after talking to Clytemnestra for the first time just kept repeating everything we already had just seen. But beyond that, I loved it and would see again in a heartbeat. It's making me want to pick up the rest of his plays and all the other dead Greek dudes, and that's saying something.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
405 BCE
Physical description
136 p.; 8.7 inches
ISBN
1534322159 / 9781534322158