The Suppliant Maidens

It’s difficult to read this one in a historical context, without retreating to modern sensibilities. I understand that it’s theorized that the entire trilogy is really about a justification for contemporary marriage laws, and like ‘The Orestia,’ things turn bloody and a deity ends up going to bat for their follower. But reading ‘The Suppliant Maidens’ by itself, without putting it in historical and literary perspective, but within the context of modern headlines, it’s easy to think it’s about women’s rights and immigrants’ rights.
I was perhaps most intrigued by some of the invocations of Zeus. On a few occasions, they referred to him as ‘Zeus Suppliant,’ and once even he’s referred to as ‘Zeus Stranger.’ I hadn’t come across people calling upon him for protection over those states.
I also enjoyed the occasional references to cows and calves. With the daughters’ lineage to Io being a central issue, recurring mentions of the image of a cow added weight to the plot and reinforced the theme.

‘I sing suffering, shrieking,
Shrill and sad am weeping,
My life is dirges
And rich in lamentations,
Mine honor is weeping,
tI invoke your Apian land,
tYou know my foreign tongue.
tOften I tear my Sidonian veils.
We grant gods oblations
Where all is splendid
And death is absent.
O toils undecipherable!
Where lead these billows?
tI invoke your Apian land.
tYou know my foreign tongue.
tOften I tear my Sidonian veils.’
—Lines 111-130

‘Yet subject to men would I never be!
I plot my course under the stars,
An escape from a heartless marriage.
Take as an ally justice.
Choose the side of the gods.’
—Lines 391-396

The Persians

It was difficult for me to incite much interest in this play, despite having more historical material to work through than the previous play. Part of it was, admittedly, a period of about two weeks spent not reading it. But my main issue was that even with some scholarly analysis to help, I never felt like I understood the message of the play. Was Aeschylus trying to invoke sympathy from his audience for their enemies who tried to enslave them? Why would he do that? Did the audience find some sense of pride in watching a play about their enemy’s defeat? I understand also that the play is supposed to be a part of a trilogy, and that much of the message is likely lost with its two other components.

Seven Against Thebes

I think my main issue with this story was a lack of sympathy for the characters. From what I understood of the plot and its background, Eteocles’ problem seemed to be entirely his own fault. If he and Polynices agreed to rule Thebes together, but Eteocles banished Polynices after the first year, then Polynices is entirely justified in returning in force. Family quarrels expanded to the level involving kingdoms and armies is a great premise, but it’s easy to have a conflict in that situation wherein no one is good or evil, and it’s just people’s own weaknesses and selfishness that bring the conflicts (which can still be interesting, in some cases). The grandiose language and ritual-esque structure of the play didn’t bother me, although it did indeed feel out of place compared to Aeschylus’ other works. Moreso than ‘The Persians,’ this play really felt like I was dropped in the middle of a larger story, and that there was action before the play that the reader is simply not privy to.

Prometheus Bound

Once again, this was my second time reading a work by Aeschylus, and once again it was significantly more enjoyable the second time around. My enjoyment came from two factors: 1) a deeper immersion into the ancient Greek mythological world, and 2) having already read Shelley’s ‘Prometheus Unbound.’ Knowing a bit more about Io, and the dynamic contrast between Hesiod’s and Aeschylus’ interpretation of Prometheus both helped me invest into the story a bit more. I appreciated the similarities that Io and Prometheus shared, definitely. When I originally read this, it was in preparation for reading ‘Unbound,’ and most of it was on a long train ride. I was only paying attention to what was physically going on, really. But reading it now, I can see why the Romantics were so drawn to the story, and why Shelley saw it as the perfect canvas to work Humanism into his sequel. Indeed, it’s easy to read this as Prometheus representing the human spirit or ingenuity, displaced by the new King spirituality and mysticism (or superstition, depending on your views). I was also fascinated by the legitimate importance of the role of fire, and Prometheus’ other contributions to the race of man. Scientifically, the use and control of fire is an evolutionary game-changer. Once humans were able to harness this power, their place in the world completely changed (for a fuller explanation of this, check out the documentary ‘The First Man’ on Curiosity Stream). But it was equally enlightening to read this play under the context of the author’s (maybe not Aeschylus?) intent, raising up the image of the noble underdog banished by the new tyrant. The poetry of this play really spoke to me as well, about to the level that the text of the Orestia did. I was particularly drawn to lines like

‘in helping man I brought my troubles on me;
but yet I did not think that with such tortures
I should be wasted on these airy cliffs,
this lonely mountain top, with no one near.’
—Lines 269-272

‘When a match has equal partners
then I fear not: may the eye
inescapable of the mighty
Gods not look on me.
That is a fight that none can fight: a fruitful
source of fruitlessness: I would not
know what I could do: I cannot
see the hope when Zeus is angry
of escaping him.’
—Lines 901-909

The Great Conversation: What does it say?--I think Aeschylus understood that life, faith, and politics are significantly more complicated than any straightforward moralist would like to think. Many of his characters--including the people in 'The Oresteia'--are multi-dimensional, and have made choices that impact other people in ways they hadn't anticipated. An interesting observation on the books I've read so far: while the technical aspects of the writing seem primitive to me, the characters definitely do not. There is no lack of understanding of human nature here; these plays were created thousands of years ago, for contemporary audiences, and so much of what was true about humans then is true now.

Soundtrack:
(The Suppliant Maidens) Lowercase Noises, ‘I Want to Live Again’

My second Aeschylus book, this one containing all of his remaining surviving works. Sadly, those which were part of trilogies are now orphaned, so like A Song of Ice and Fire and The Kingkiller Chronicles, we'll probably never get to experience the works in their completeness. I joke, but it does drive home just how much of human literature we have lost - how what survives is only a small fraction of what once existed.

This book was considerably slimmer, thanks to the comparatively brief 15-page introduction, although Philip Vellacot is still the editor/translator. Looks like this may have been the earlier publication, so maybe he just hadn't worked up all that steam yet?

As to the plays, I liked Prometheus Bound, it had a similar intensity of emotion to the Orestia. The Supplicants I felt was the weakest. I felt the chorus of women was very effective in Seven Against Thebes, their mounting terror at the sounds of the besieging army really hightened the tension and the perspective - that of the helpless women who cannot act to defend their city, but must trust that they will be saved and can only fear what will happen if their menfolk fail - provides a different angle from the standard point of view of the brave defending warrior or war-leader, which even today I feel is too often the only focus of war stories. I did agree the conclusion dragged on, and apparently this part might be a post-Aeschylus add-on. I did quite like the idea of the divided chorus exiting in different directions though.

The Persians was simple propaganda. Here we lose the complex motivations and perspectives that I praised in Aeschylus's other works - although we take the "perspective" of the defeated Persians, the whole play is them lamenting how much they suck and talking about how awesome the Greeks are. The conclusion to this one reeeeally dragged. Yes yes, tears and beating your breasts, I get it. For Athenians of the time, however, this would have been more meaningful - a celebration of their victory.

And with that, I have finished all of Aeshylus's surviving works, probably about 10% of what he actually wrote. Pretty impressed overall, let's see what future playwrights do with the material.

Prometheus is by far and away the stand out of this little collection of Greek drama - fragments of longer trilogies that were otherwise lost. The grandeur and drama of Prometheus Bound is spectacular, but the other three plays included in this edition just don't measure up.

This is a great collection of plays, beautifully translated and helpfully annotated in this Penguin edition. The story of Prometheus is one of the most powerful and poignant in Greek mythology, and Aeschylus tells it with real feeling. The other plays in this collection are great as well. Seven Against Thebes continues the story of the aftermath of the whole Oedipus debacle, and in the process captures the horror of living in an ancient walled city under siege. The Suppliants, with its story about refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East and searching for asylum in Europe felt surprisingly timely. We've been having the same immigration debate for well over 2,000 years now apparently. The last play in the collection is the Persians, and it's an interesting work for several reasons. Aeschylus was a veteran of the wars against the Persians, and when he wrote this it wasn't ancient myth, but very recent history. It's actually an important historical source for what happened at the battle of Salamis. It's funny because the play is presented as a tragedy, but what was tragedy for the Persians was glory for the Greeks, and it's fun to imagine those Greek audiences positively glowing with schadenfreude as they watched it. All these plays are interesting glimpses into ancient Greek culture with passages of great beauty and power. Still well worth reading after so many centuries.

4 Stars for Smyth's translation of Seven Against Thebes.

shorts

Four Quick short plays. I envision a small acting troop performing these in a park or busy city center. All taken from Greek myth with long dialogues.

1) Filottete (Sofocle) - 4 stelle.
Mi è piaciuta molto questa tragedia! Pur essendo nel complesso piuttosto statica, si è fatta leggere con interesse ed emozione!
Belli i personaggi, bello il tema trattato, bello anche lo scenario dell’isola selvaggia e deserta! :)
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

2) Agamennone (Eschilo) - 4 stelle
Sempre affascinante leggere un testo così antico. E’ proprio l’espressione di un altro modo di pensare. Come dice Enrico Medda in una delle note, in questa tragedia, ancor più nel seguito della trilogia, non c’è una contrapposizione tra giusto e ingiusto, ma tra diverse concezioni di giustizia.
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

3) Coefore (Eschilo) - 4 stelle
Come quasi tutti i capitoli di mezzo delle trilogie, è un po’ appeso, meno incisivo del primo (il terzo devo ovviamente ancora leggerlo), ma comunque interessante.
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

4) Eumenidi (Eschilo) - 4 stelle
Da quando a scuola lessi il riassunto di questa trilogia, mi venne il desiderio di leggerla perché una cosa in particolare mi aveva grandemente affascinato: la scena d’inizio di questa tragedia. La Pizia si prepara ad accogliere i pellegrini in cerca di profezie, e si ritrova davanti Oreste, con le mani ancora insanguinate, circondato dalle Erinni che dormono. Penso che sia una scena fantastica, non so come potevano essere i costumi all’epoca, ma anche solo con la fantasia è un’immagine spettacolare, questo ragazzo che per forza di cose si trova a familiarizzare con questi esseri mostruosi! :)
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

5) Aiace (Sofocle) - 4 stelle
Ma sapete che Sofocle era proprio bravo a scrivere? ;) Anche questa tragedia mi è piaciuta molto, nonostante la storia, stavolta, non fosse particolarmente interessante.
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

6) Sette contro Tebe (Eschilo) - 4 stelle
Forse dopo l’Orestea mi sarà difficile provare le stesse emozioni per un’altra tragedia greca, però sono sempre una lettura che mi piace moltissimo. Situazioni assurde, scelte incomprensibili, il fato che sovrasta ogni cosa e impone il suo volere… eppure si parla sempre di sentimenti umani, e per questo colpiscono ancora oggi, a millenni di distanza, noi lettori che apparentemente non abbiamo il benché minimo tratto in comune con questi personaggi. E’ tutto un po’ una metafora, efficace sempre, allora come oggi.
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

7) Trachinie (Sofocle) - 4 stelle
Conoscevo già il mito su cui si basa questa tragedia, sapevo quindi come la storia sarebbe andata a finire. Poi, è una tragedia, perciò il finale tristissimo pieno di morte e sciagura era previsto, però devo dire che l’ho trovato davvero molto deprimente.
Tenuto conto di tutto ciò, comunque mi è piaciuto leggere questa tragedia, non l’ho trovata per nulla pesante o noiosa, e anche se non credo sia una di quelle che mi rimarrà impressa com’è accaduto invece qualche altra volta, è stata una bella lettura.
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

8) Persiani (Eschilo) - 4 stelle
Mi è piaciuta molto questa tragedia, anche se la parte del Coro l’ho trovata noiosa perché troppo ripetitiva. Mi è piaciuto che rappresentasse, una volta tanto, un evento storico e non mitologico, e mi è piaciuto che decidesse di mostrarcelo da un punto di vista originale, quello dei vinti. Intendiamoci, solo dal loro punto di vista, non certo dalla loro parte, perché comunque lo scopo di Eschilo era esaltare i Greci e la loro famosa vittoria. In ogni caso una lettura molto piacevole e interessante!
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

9) Edipo Re (Sofocle) - 4 stelle
La grandezza di autori come Sofocle sta nell’essere stati in grado di raccontare qualcosa che tutti già conoscevano, e renderlo comunque appassionante. La storia di Edipo è così, strafamosa che noi lettori/spettatori vediamo la tragedia avvicinarsi a poco a poco agli ignari personaggi, ma non per questo siamo meno coinvolti emotivamente.
E allora fissa il tuo occhio al girono estremo e non dire felice uomo mortale, prima che abbia varcato il termine della vita senza aver patito dolore.
(Corifeo nell’explicit)
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

10) Elettra (Sofocle) - 3 stelle
Il voto un po’ più basso del solito è dovuto al fatto che non amo particolarmente questa parte del mito, e non sono riuscita a farmi coinvolgere come è accaduto per altre tragedie, ma alla fine comunque il libro mi è piaciuto e, pur non concordando con lei, ho apprezzato molto la protagonista.
https://www.naufragio.it/iltempodileg...

I read this in Sommerstein's Loeb edition, which I can't find here on GR, but I'm assuming that the translation is the same as the one in the Peguin edition.

These plays don't rise to the level of any in the Oresteia trilogy, but there are moments of brilliance that Sommerstein captures very well. These are some of the oldest plays we have and will strike new readers as strange, but they show the changing face of tragedy and must be seen from an historical perspective as well as a dramatic one.

The Loeb translations tend to be more literal than others, but Sommerstein's translation is also fluid and straightforward (as opposed to the ancient Loeb editions with their Victorian overtones.)It's nice to have this addition to the canon.

A very readable translation of 4 of Aeschylus' plays. The earliest extant Greek dramas that we have. Much less "action" here than in later Greek drama. Sophocles was just beginning to present plays in the last days of this playwright.
Allan Sommerstein chooses to present long declarations by main characters as blocks of prose, rather than in Greek tragedy's metre and feet. He is the translator, editor and commentator of the complete plays of Aeschylus in a scholarly edition for Harvard. This is a more readable, less scholarly, edition of that work, edited for the "amateur".
Great Notes, but little on textual anomalies. Further Reading could use an update.
The best part is at the end of each play he gives a synopsis of what we know of the other 3 plays in the 4 play presentation this play was part of that year. Including the existing bits and pieces of text for those other 3 plays that have been found.
He often references commentary by the early mythologists (and Hesiod is referred to often), but the British version of annotation is a bit quirky for those of us in the US (last name of editor/author and year of publication only). But filling in that background information from early sources for the reader is very helpful.
His cries of amazement and horror by the characters are great - as he says, they are next to impossible to translate.
And at one point he runs down the 13 generations between Io and Heracles - which makes me feel not so bad when I can't remember who is related to whom in all of the Greek tragedies that we have available to us to this day.
Readable, useful, informative edition. Read along side the Deborah Roberts' Hackett translation, which is a bit more scholarly in its Intro and textual commentary.
5 out of 5.

I'm really enjoying my exploration of these ancient Greek works, I just wish more of them survived! I was so invested in The Suppliants, just for the trilogy to be incomplete

Though I’ve already written a review in Romanian for Prometheus Bound, it would have been strange if I didn’t write something about the entire volume that includes four of Aeschylus’ tragedies: The Suppliant Maidens, The Persians, The Seven Against Thebes and Prometheus Bound.

What you need to know about Aeschylus is that he is one of the three emblematic figures of Greek tragedy along with Sophocles and Euripides. It is said that Aeschylus wrote around one hundred plays during his lifetime, but only seven survived the test of time, four of which I’ve mentioned above, while the other three form the Oresteia Trilogy. Aeschylus is also known for introducing the second actor on the stage. He gradually diminished the role of the chorus and he shifted the focus from the lyricism of the composition to the dialogue – an important change that gives the tragedy its dramatic characteristics we all recognize even today. For his artistic achievements, Aeschylus is also called the Father of Tragedy and he is praised by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his famous work, Poetics.

The Suppliant Maidens (Ἱκέτιδες) is the earliest play of Aeschylus’ that survived to the present day, but it is less known in contrast with his other works. I actually read this one last because the subject didn’t appeal to me that much and I found the play pretty mediocre in theme and ‘action’. The subject has its roots in Greek mythology and it is the story of Danaus’ daughters who flee from Egypt to Argos, in order to avoid their incestuous marriages to the sons of Aegyptus, who were their cousins. The maidens (escorted by their father) find shelter in Argos hoping not to be captured by their suitors. In order to help the newcomers, Pelasgus (the King of Argos) asks his people to vote and their decision is crucial for the maidens’ destinies. Though the other two parts of the trilogy are lost, there are some scarce references to what happens to the maidens in Prometheus Bound and in one of Horace’s Odes.
E. D. A. Moreshead wrote about The Persians (Πέρσαι) that it “was brought out in 472 B.C., eight years after the sea-fight of Salamis which it commemorates” (p. 5), a play that had a great significance for those who fought against the Persian Empire in the Battles of Termopilæ, Marathon, Salamis and Plataea. The Persians might be the second play of a trilogy “standing between the Phineus and the Glaucus” (Idem.), Phineus being a prophet like Tiresias, who foreshadowed the conflict that is depicted in The Persians. I won’t spoil your read, but I will only add that, through this play, Aeschylus sends a patriotic message to his fellow Athenians and he revives their past victories against the Persians or the triumph of civilisation against barbarism, as Ovidiu Drîmba writes in his study of the history of theatre. t
The Seven Against Thebes (Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας) depicts the siege of Thebes along with the cruel fate of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, who were cursed by their father, the late King Oedipus, for not taking care of their blind parent and for their selfishness and thirst for power. From my point of view, the most lyrical and heartbreaking parts of the play are those recited by the Chorus of Maidens, who depict the terrific battle scenes and address helpless and desperate prayers to the gods to protect the city and not let it fall into the hands of their enemy. The irony is that the name Thebes doesn’t appear anywhere in the text, but Cadmea or Cadmus. The one that gave the play the name we all know was actually Aristophanes, who referred to it in his comedy Frogs as "the Seven against Thebes, a drama instinct with War, which anyone who beheld must have yearned to be a warrior" (p. 6).

In Prometheus Bound (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης), Titan Prometheus is punished by Zeus for creating the first humans, for stealing the Sacred Fire from Mt. Olympus and for giving it to the earthlings to start the process of civilisation. Though Prometheus is bound to a rock on Mt. Elbrus and Zeus uses various types of torture to make the titan repent, Prometheus stands tall and doesn’t have any reason to be ashamed or to apologize for what he has done. He has the power to predict the future and that future will not be a bright one for Mighty Zeus. Prometheus is not afraid of Zeus because he is immortal; therefore, all he has to do is to endure all the torture until his saviour will fulfil the prophecy. Unfortunately for us, the second and third plays of the Promethean trilogy are lost, but we can find out who the saviour is by reading the Greek myths.

Overall, the plays were very interesting, due to their unique structure and well-known characters from history and myths, but the language was pretty old and sometimes difficult to understand – a factor that made the reading too slow for my liking. I’m sure that I would have enjoyed this volume a little more if the writing had been a bit more modern, but this is a matter of taste.

http://elitere.ro/four-plays-of-aesch...

http://elitere.ro/four-plays-of-aesch...

Great plays!! I particularly loved "Prometheus Bound"!