Mommy issues are real.

This was fighting for women rights.

Cant put 5/5 because there's fucking misogynist remarks, and even though its like 2500 years old, that does not please me. Besides, everyone knows Agamemnon is an asshole, its been quite clear in history.

(3.5 stars)

This is my second read of a translation, by Janet Lembke & Kenneth J Reckford. The last time I read this was 5 years ago.

Like the second part of Aeschylus’s Oresteia this also gives an acknowledgement to the legal process as the play wraps up. However, this is not what drives the play.

Another difference between the two versions is that this has that Euripides mark, where the women are more interesting for their depth.

I also like how Euripides’s Electra has been married off to a lowly farmer, strengthening her motive for revenge.

My favourite character is the farmer (in other translations he is named as a peasant). He has a much smaller part but his calmness and sincerity is a really nice balance against the revenge that gets a bit gory.

Electra by Euripides is not something I would read for leisure, it’s not a fun read, and it’s a slow burner. But it is worth reading just to see another dramatic portrait of Electra, or if like me you’re piecing together these myths. If you are then this is a fascinating read.

“You gave birth to your own slaughter.”

From all the books I have read for high school until now, I would rate this one as a "meh" one. Not my favorite one but definitely not the worst. The only thing that bothered me is the fact that so much background information is required to fully understand the plot.

این نمایشنامه تصویری پرتنش و تکان‌دهنده از انتقام و ویرانیه؛ داستان زنی که خشم و اندوه، تمام وجودش رو فرا گرفته و اون رو به سمت تصمیم‌های تراژیک سوق می‌ده.
الکترا، در طلب انتقام، نه‌تنها با دشمنانش، بلکه با خودش هم در کشمکشه. هر لحظه‌ی داستان، جراحتی تازه بر زخم‌های کهنه اضافه می‌کنه و نشون می‌ده که گاهی در جستجوی عدالت، روح انسان نابود می‌شه.
این اثر، مثل آینه‌ای، تاریکی‌های درونی بشر رو بازتاب می‌ده و از بهایی که گاه برای باورهایمان می‌پردازیم، پرده برمی‌داره.

euripides you are not my homie

Nu m-a încântat așa de mult.


"BĂTRÎNUL: Copilul meu, norocul ți-e potrivnic: tu n-ai nici un prieten. E rar prilejul de-a găsi pe cineva care să-mpartă nu doar binele cu noi, ci, la nevoie, răul."

"ELEKTRA: Acestea toate sînt nimic, nu-s ale noastre decît pentru scurtă vreme. Doar caracterul este trainic, bogăția nu. Doar caracterul pururi dăinuie și biruie nenorocirile. Belșugul, dacă e nedrept și-n mîinile unor mișei, își ia din case zborul; numai cîteva clipe strălucește."

A beautiful tragedy by the great ancient Greek playwright Euripides! The play is centered on revenge and justice, where the children of Clytemnestra, Electra and her brother Orestes avenge the murder of their own father by the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegistus at the end of the play. What I liked in Euripides’ version of the play is its somehow realistic form as well as the depiction of the deep psychological aspects and conflicts of the characters, shown, for instance, in the characters’ motivations. For example, we see that Orestes is hesitant to kill his mother when the time arrives, partly because he does not want to commit a matricide, but more driven by his sense of filial duties toward the mother who brought him. Electra tries to show her mother that the real motive behind her husband’s murder was not because the latter killed their daughter, but because she already had had feelings toward Aegistus. On the other hand, the events take place in the peasant’s house, not in the palace (like in Aeschylus and Sophocles versions). I also liked to see the mother willing to help her pregnant daughter with her first baby, which shows that even if she knew that her daughter hated her, still she had motherly feelings toward her daughter – That was not the case with the other plays. One aspect the play seems to shed lights on was the gender role as imposed by the patriarchal culture of the time. The language is beautiful and the play attracts one’s attention from the very first page.

Οταν (ξανα) διαβάζεις κανείς τις αρχαίες τραγωδίες, διαπιστώνει πόσο επίκαιρες είναι πάντα. Θέματα εξουσίας, σχάσεων των δύο φύλων, οικογένειας, έρωτες και μίση, αναπλάθονται λες και είναι γραμμένοι σήμερα. Ειδικά σε τούτη την τραγωδία, η τραγική φιγούρα της Ηλεκτρας δίνει μια έντονη συναισθηματική φόρτιση με καίρια ερωτήματα που άπτονται της οικογένειας.

بعضی از اتفاقاتش با الکترای سوفوکل فرق داشت و قطعا برای اوریپید زیباتر و قوی‌تر بود.

Euripides's version of the classic House of Atreus tragedy brought out the humanity in many of the main characters. In Aeschylus's version of the same timeline, Orestes and Electra are caricatures -- much of their reasoning is condensed into the typical revenge and honor plotline, mythical in exectuion. However, here, the characters are contradictory, confused, uncertain, brave, scared. They are logical and real. His female characters are undeniably strong and at the center of attention, their arguments and speeches revealing a clarity and intelligence that was surprising.

It is said that Euripides wrote in two keys, and this is none the more clear than in Electra, where the bleak is met with the humorous, seriousness met with parody. At times ruthless in its gruesomeness, this tragedy was at the same time infused with dark humor, sardonic and full of irony, comical in its parody of Aeschylus.

Euripides has quickly risen to the top of my favorite Greek tragedians.