Three stars... Euripedes comes off as very misogynistic and his portrayal of human emotion in Medea feels fleeting rather than natural...

Maybe it's because I've always been on Medea's side

3.5 ⭐️

medea did nothing wrong

She's just a badass and Jason needs to respect that

There are a lot of long monologues, and characters with iffy motivations in this (though that's probably true for a lot of Greek myths). Medea and Helen were interesting to read, mainly because I didn't know that much about either story. I liked how you the introduction to ancient philosophy book I read before this gave me an insight into how different schools of philosophy would give varied insights into the character of Medea and how her actions could be interpreted. Not really a big fan of Hippolytus, and I hate Electra as a character, though the play was interesting enough.

I've now read Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and for me Sophocles is the clear favorite. I adore Oedipus the King. Aeschylus was almost painful to get through, though I should probably give him another chance. Euripides was easy to read, but I never got properly invested.

euripides loves angry women and child murder

Overall 4****
Breakdown:

Medea: 5***** ”Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women are the most wretched.”

Medea is my favourite play by Euripides. It demonstrates the true plight of women in Ancient Greece and the inequality they face. She is a woman who knows she has been wronged and wants to take her vengeance, even if it means losing those dearest to her. I just love Medea- she has done everything for love, even the darkest of actions, and Jason seems to not give a fuck... she will make him pay.

Hecabe: 4**** ”A free man?- There’s no such thing! All men are slaves.”

I enjoyed this one as well. This is set after Troy has fallen and Hecabe and her daughters are now Trojan slaves. This covers the slaughter of Polyxena and the discovery of Polydorus’ death. This also covered the importance of guest-friend and the heavy penalties of breaking these sacred rules.

Electra: 4/4.5****

Orestes: “Would you be resolute to help him kill your mother?”

Electra: “I Would- with the same axe by which my father died... When I have shed her blood to requite this, then I can die content.”

This takes place after Agamemnon has been killed by Clytemnestra and the siblings, Orestes and Electra, have been parted for many years. This focuses on Orestes return to Argos to find Electra and kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus for killing his father. This was an interesting play as at first I find Electra annoying with her self-pity, but it’s interesting to see both of Orestes and Electra and their change of decisions and complex psychology taking place. It was also interesting to see the Ancient Greek attitudes to female behaviour- such as looking down on women talking to two young men outside without a male companion.

Heracles: 4****

Probably my least favourite of the collection- mainly as the others really delve into the vengefulness of the female characters (which I love!) whereas this one does feature some of Hera’s revenge but it’s not the main point.
This one covers Heracles madness, ordered by Hera, and his subsequent slaughtering of his wife (Megaera) and his three children.

I enjoyed this collection of plays the most- they all feature vengeful women and Euripides does this so well !! He describes their inequality, feelings and emotions, things that might be overlooked in a heavily male-dominated society.

This is Euripides I, from the University of Chicago Press, which published "The Complete Greek Tragedies." I have a soft spot in my heart for these, regardless of how well or ill one judges the translations -- and you'd have to be a better scholar than I to have a serious opinion on that score. My soft spot owes to recollections of my undergraduate days, when I read this same edition as a freshman. What a great awakening -- no, that's a bit too pat; what an intriguing alternative to the Ozzie & Harriet/Abbie-and-Jerry-and-Allen Americas that were warring at that time.

"Alcestis" is the story of a wife who volunteers to the gods to die instead of her husband. "The Medea" is the original for "Fatal Attraction," and, like so much Greek thought which we inevitably return to, does it all on a bigger stage. A vindictive King of Argos gets his comeuppance in "The Heracleidae." And "Hippolytus" is a gender-reversed mirror image of Butterfield 8, 2,400 years earlier. Phaedra is obsessed with her handsome young stepson, but knows the scandal her passion would engender. What happens? Trouble -- what else?

"With Euripides.... his faults are obvious. Equally obvious is his genius. He is the father of the romantic comedy, the problem play. He has given us a series of unforgettable characters [women]. There has never been anyone else like him." The summary of editor and Bryn Mawr professor Richmond Lattimore.

P.S., a subsequent thought: "Hippolytus" ends with Hippolytus and his father Theseus having it out. When they've vented their anger, resentments, and contrary views of the world, father and son try to make a little nice with each other. They blame the behaviors on the gods; it was Aphrodite who drove Phaedra into her craziness; it was Artemis who made Hippolytus so contrary. It must have been a relief to be able to shift some of the responsibility for one's actions onto the perversities of the gods. "Alas, I know the goddess who destroyed me!" exclaims Hippolytus. And his father, Theseus, laments how terrible his losses have been and how much he contributed to them -- but it was (partly) Poseidon's fault. "A god tripped up my judgment." Rejoins Hippolytus, in agreement: "O, if only men might be a curse to Gods!" It's a strange mechanism to our ears today, but a good one -- it gives the characters a way to get past their own sins and destructiveness.

“then wipe off on me all your uncleanness, all; i do not shrink from it.”

10/10 better than Shakespeare

4.5⭐️ I would kill to see these performed

Medea is a brilliant feminist the only mistake she made was to become psychotic and kill her little boys. THEY WERE CHILDREN YOU B*TCH HOW COULD YOU... anyway Jason is an ass and complete misogynist. Let's just say I was invested in the revenge plan. Good on ya babe.