damn, electra had some deeply ingrained internalised misogyny going on.

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.

Electra:
... Bize merhamet et, çünkü acımız merhamet ister!

Continuing my journey through Euripides, I read Electra, a story about filial piety, sacrifice, and repercussions. I had previously read Sophocles' version translated by Anne Carson. Electra is racked with pain from her father's murder, and not afraid to show it and seek revenge. Euripides loves strong female character, and unfortunately the deus ex machina. I know I say this a lot, but the predictable appearance of an all-powerful god or two bothers me. But this isn't enough to turn me away from the twists and emotions of ancient Greek drama. The Dioscuri show up again, this time annoyingly negating all of the action of the play. Overall, an enjoyable experience.

کتاب رو در حد معمولی میدونم، نه بد بود نه خوب، معمولی
داستان الکترا اینطوریه که مادرش، پدرش( اگاممنون همونی که جنگ تروا رو شروع کرد) رو میکشه، بعد الکترا برادرش و فراری میده تا نجاتش بده و بعدا با برادرش همرا میشن و انتقام قتل پدرشون و از مادرشون و میگیرن::)))))کلی خیلی داستان پیچیده ای داشته.
اما داستانی که اریپید توی این کتاب دربارش حرف میزنه این نیست داستان از جایی شروع میشه که الکترا با دهقانی ازدواج کرده و داستان دور از قلعه و خاندان هاو ایناست برای همین برام خیلی جذاب نبود.

This might be my favorite play by Euripides. It reaches Aeschylus levels of gravity with its beautiful language; the dark elegies of Electra are at the level of Sophocles; yet the play is pure Euripides. If the gods do exist then they are absent and any interaction with humanity is full of spite. I don’t know how serious to take the Dioscuri’s claim that Helen never went to Troy -- that Zeus sent a hologram of her just to cause so much death -- but that shit blew my mind!

Euripides continues his “campaign against Apollo” that is for sure, but here the god doesn’t even make an appearance, his oracles are said to be lies, April Fool’s jokes that made two children murder their mother. Any satisfaction from the revenge wrought on their father’s murderers is rendered useless as the Furies make their appearance off-stage and only at the very end.

What a contrast to the Oresteia’s pacifying ending. At the end of The Eumenides the blazing mind of Orestes, a son given a curse from the Lord of Fate to kill his mother, is ultimately cooled when he goes to Athens to stand trial. Here, however, his fate in court will literally be determined by a roll of the dice. He’s at the mercy of the brutal Apollo, God of Sevens. Euripides' use of the House of Atreus myth here, the inversion and subversion of the elements of revenge, his portrayal of the ugliness of justice and the eloquent commentary on the insignificance of wealth next to man’s character; all of these attributes make this play in my eyes a masterpiece.

Euripid je u odnosu na Sofokla i Eshila jedna velika velika DEUS EX MACHINA! :D

From my edition's introduction, the translator Gilbert Murray writes that Euripides' Electra 'has the distinction of being the best abused and not the best understood of ancient tragedies'...

And I agree. It is very different from Sophocles' Electra, even as regards to the portrayal of Electra and Orestes themselves. In a way Euripides is more strikingly realistic. "In Euripides' play both Orestes and Electra are far from heroic, the murder of Aegisthus is shown as, at the best, inglorious; that of Clytaemnestra as revolting.": from the introduction of the Penguin classics edition by Philip Vellacott. Castor and Polydeuces (two gods) actually make an appearance in Euripides' version to remind them of the horrendous nature of their deed, despite Orestes being urged on by Apollo (who in the end must be blamed) and their justification.

Some criticize Euripides as being overly 'antiquated' in his perceptions of ideals, especially as regards to women. One might quote the phrase from the play: "A wife ought in all things to accept her husband's judgement". Sophocles, on the other hand, portrayed Electra and Clytaemnestra as the main and passionate driving force behind the plots of their male counterparts. However, I do not feel that this is fair on Euripides. Besides being restricted by the patriarchal beliefs of his time, he is not afraid to criticize the husbands as well, "The husbands are also to blame but they are never criticized" pleads Clytaemnestra.

I also think that Euripides' play has a lot of commendable qualities that are in its merit. The peasant, Electra's husband who adamantly refuses to take advantage of her pitiable state, provides a refreshing virtuous and reasonable alternative to the other characters. There are also a lot of references to current affairs and ancient Greek mythology. I'll leave my comment on the references out, one might easily understand them by the notes provided in many versions.

However, at one point Orestes speaks out against Apollo, his 'omniscience' and his ill-fated oracle; "How if some fiend of hell, hid in god's likeness, speaks that oracle?". Besides the open boldness of such a statement, implying that a god could ever be wrong in the 'Great Dionysia festival' itself is no small feat, and the likeness to the famous Hamlet (which is in many ways similar to Electra) quote; "The spirit that I have seen may be the devil". Besides these consideration, I have also come up with one of my own. We all know that 'Rationalism' as a philosophical ideal was founded by the great Plato and Socrates before him. Well, if you know that, you must also know that the even more famous philosopher Descartes once said 'What if we are all being tricked by an evil demon in the disguise of divine forces' (there is also an old book called 'Euripides the Rationalist').

Both Sophocles and Euripides deserve their recognition as some of world's best dramatists, if not some of the founders of drama and performance itself. However, despite the many, I am sure, who may not agree with me, I like Euripides' version more (though that may be in part to the sublimity of Euripides' version translation when compared to the simplicity of my Sophocles' version).

Η Ηλέκτρα αποτελεί μια από τις πιο γνωστές τραγωδίες του Ευριπίδη και διδάχθηκε το 413 π.Χ.
Όπως φαίνεται και από τον τίτλο, δίνεται έμφαση στον ιδιαίτερο ρόλο που διαδραματίζει η Ηλέκτρα, η οποία παριστάνει την σύζυγο κάποιου Μυκηναίου και στην συνέχεια με την άφιξη του εξορισμένου αδερφού της, Ορέστη, εκδικούνται την Κλυταιμνήστρα και τον Αίγισθο.
"Σχέτλια μεν έπαθες, ανόσια δ’ ειργάσω."

I'm still casting about trying to find a justification for the killing of Clytemnestra. This Electra faults Clytemnestra for lust, and says her (Electra's) exile is twice as bad as Iphigenia's death. Fail!

Orestes almost balks, wondering if it was a demon pretending to be a god telling him to do this. Interesting. And Electra feels some remorse afterwards. ...This was a tough one for the Greeks.

الکترای اوریپید اولین تجربه‌ی خوانش اسطوره‌ها از تراژدی نویسان یونان بود. متاسفانه قبل از این مستقیما هیچ کدوم از متون رو نخونده بودم و مواجهه‌ام با اسطوره‌ها از بازنویسی‌های جدیدتری مثل مگس‌ها یا زنان تراوای سارتر بود.
متن بسیار کوتاه و بسیار ساده‌است و توی کمتر از نیم ساعت خوانده میشه. من ترجمه آقای شهبازی رو خوندم اما متوجه شدم که ترجمه‌ای از کوثری هم وجود داره و اون بهتره. این نمایشنامه اونقدر برام جذابیت داشت که بلافاصله متن آقا کوثری رو پیدا کنم و بخونم.
قبل از شروع، خوب هست که آشنایی مقدماتی با بک‌گراند ماجرا، اسطوره‌ها و روابطشون داشته باشیم (حتی در حد دیدن فیلم تروی!) که متوجه شیم روابط خانوادگی چطور پیش میره.
درون‌مایه‌ی اصلی نمایشنامه، "انتقام" و احساسات و قضاوت‌های خانودگی است.
آگاممنون در جریان شروع جنگ تراوا، دختر کلوتایمنسترا، ایفیگنیا رو به پیشگاه آتنا قربانی میکنه. کلوتایمنسترا با کینه‌ای که از آگاممنون به دل میگیره، همراه با معشوقه‌اش همسرش رو میکشه و در ادامه پسرش، اورستس رو از ترس انتقام به جای دیگه‌ای می‌فرسته و دخترش الکترا رو به همسری دهقانی درمیاره.
داستان حول انتقام الکترا و اورستس از مادر و همسر مادرشون می‌گذره.
نکات قابل توجه داستان برای من این بود که بار تصمیمات و پیشروی داستان بیشتر انسانی بود و اوریپید خدایان رو کمتر دخالت داده بود. حتی زمانی که آخر داستان از آپولو سخن میگه، وجهه مثبتی رو ازش به نمایش نمیذاره. فکر می‌کنم این موضوع خیلی در زمان خودش پیشروانه محسوب میشده.
علاوه بر این حتی منفی‌ترین شخصیت‌های داستان هم وجهه‌هایی مثبت داشتن و ممکن بود همدلی‌ات رو برانگیزن. دلیل کلوتایمنسترا برای کشتن آگاممنون رو میتونی درک کنی و همسر کلوتایمنسترا هم در بخش کمی که حضور داره وجهه‌های مثبت اخلاقی مثل خوش‌صحبتی، مردم‌داری و مهمان‌نوازی رو نشون میده. اون‌طور که خوندم توی دو نمونه‌ی دیگه‌ی این نمایشنامه (از سوفوکل و سوخولیس) اینطور نیست و شخصیت‌ها سیاه‌ترن.
الکترا سویه‌ی مادرکشانه‌ی ادیپ هست. هنوز نمی‌دونم برای شروع مورد مناسبی رو انتخاب کردم یا نه، اما توصیه‌ش می‌کنم و قطعا تراژدی‌های یونان رو ادامه خواهم داد.
مونولوگ اورستس بعد از شناخت دهقان قسمت مورد علاقه‌ام از نمایشنامه بود.

(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.