I've only read one Sophocles' tragedy before (Antigone), but that was top-rate, so my expectations were high. Sophocles didn't disappoint: these were very entertaining and interesting plays that still have relevance, 2500 years after they were written.

Women of Trachis told the story of Heracles' suicide by funeral pyre. I was pretty unfamiliar with the mythos around Heracles, so the twists and turns of the story managed to surprise me. Not bad.

Ajax was the best of these four plays. Ajax was a hero of the Trojan war who got royally pissed when Achilles' weapons were handed to Odysseus instead of him. So pissed, in fact, that he decides to torture-kill all the leaders of the expedition. Sounds reasonable to me. Athene casts a confusion over him, so Ajax ends up killing only pack animals. When Ajax realizes his error, he gets ashamed of his actions - not the torture-killing bit, but the fact that he killed helpless animals, which is unbecoming of a warrior. He gets so ashamed, in fact, that he decides to kill himself. Once again, most reasonable logic.
The play has unusual structure: Ajax's suicide happens in the middle of the play, and then the story turns into Antigone part 2: for the rest of the play the conflict revolves around the burial of Ajax. Odysseus acts as a voice of reason, so the play ends on a more of less peaceful note.

In Philoctetes, on the other hand, Odysseus is depicted as a crafty and amoral manipulator. According to a prophecy the Trojan war can't be won without Philoctetes and his invincible bow. Odysseus comes up with a deceitful plan to get Philo back to Troy. The only trouble is that he drafts young Neoptolemy to lure Philoctetes, but Neo feels sorry for the poor man and decides to come clean and confess the whole plot. Philoctetes decides to have nothing to do with the whole war, Greeks be damned - but changes suddenly his mind after literal deus ex machina: Heracles descends from Olympos to tell Philoctetes to stop his whining and get back on board with the war business.
Philoctetes obeys, and the play ends - happily. Zero suicides, zero murders. Extremely unexpected.

With Electra we get back on the proper Greek tragedy track: here we have murders aplenty. This play tells the same story as The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. Sophocles focuses more on Electra than Orestes. The most interesting bit was the dialogue between Electra and her sister Crysothemis. They are both living with their murderous mother, who they both hate, but Cryso has decided to accept her fate for the time being and submit to her mother's will. Therefore she lives in luxury. Electra, on the other hand, is relentless in her hate and isn't afraid to show how much she despised her mother. Thus she wears only rags and is treated like a slave. Both sisters try unsuccesfully to convert the other to their point of view. The audience is left to draw their own conclusions as to which way is actually better.

I don't know what impulse buy this book was, I don't know why I thought I would like it

Sofokles tunnetaan antiikin Kreikan kuuluisimpana tragediakirjailijana, ja onkin kulttuuriteko, että viimein loput neljä vielä suomentamaton draamaklassikkoa on käännetty erinomaisesti suomeksi. Draamojen lisäksi kansien välissä on oivallinen johdanto, kuka Sofokles oikein oli, mikä on hänen merkityksensä ja vieläpä hänen käyttämänsä tragiatekniikat.

Näytelmien jälkeen on ihan kattava selvitys alluusioista ja viittauksista antiikin myytteihin ja taruihin, jotta antiikin kirjallisuuteenkin perehtymätön tunnistaa ne ja hoksaa kulttuurikontekstin jne.

Näytelmät ovat samassa järjestyksessä alla niin kuin kirjan kansien välissä.

Trakhiin naiset

Näytelmä kertoo Sofokleen version Herakleen kuolemaan johtaneista syistä. Näyttämönä toimii Trakhis ja tarkemmin Herakleen palatsin miljöö, ja eletään aikaa muutama vuosi ennen Troijan sotaa.

Herakleen vaimo Deianeira saa tietää puolijumalamiehensä olevan tulossa kotiin, mutta odottavan lempeä himmentää mukana tullut kaunotar-ryöstösaalis Iole. Vaimo siis pelkää menettävänsä puolison rakkauden, ja silloin päättää käyttää kentauri Knessoksen hänelle neuvomaansa rakkauden eliksiiriä. Se paljastuukin hirvittäväksi kiroukseksi, kun Herakleen tappama kentauri olikin ilkeästi neuvonut kuolemansuudelman. Takaumassa päästään hetkeen, jolloin Deianeira muistelee keräämäänsä kuolevan Knessoksen verta, piilottaa sen auringolta ja kutoo tummaan vereen kastetusta kankaasta ihokkaan miehelleen luullen siten saavansa Herakleen varauksettoman rakkauden.

Näin ei käykään, ja ennen pitkää Herakleen uskottu mies Likhas tuleekin ilmoittamaan, että hänen isäntänsä kärsii suunnattomista tuskista, jonka vaimon lähettämä vaatekappale on aiheuttanut. Sitä Deianeira olikin jo pelokkaana ajatellut, kun kentaurin vereen kastettu ja auringonvaloon jäänyt kangassuikale oli leimahtanut tuleen.

Loppuhuipennuksessa Dianeira päätyy itsemurhaan, ja paareilla koriseva Herakles sanelee avustajilleen ohjeita, mitä Hyllos-pojalle tehdään ja miten hänen oma polttohautaus toteutetaan. Siitä alkaa matka Oitavuorelle ja matka jumalaksikorottamiselle. Siinä taustalla ja tapahtumien edetessä kuorona toimii Trakhiin nuoret naiset...

Filoktetes

Tua Korhosen suomentama Filoktetes on hieno näytelmä, joka perustuu Herakles myyttiin ja jonka oli kirjoittanut pari muutakin kirjailijaa aiemmin. Lähtökohtana oli siis Herakleen polttorovion sytyttäneen Filokteteen lahja: jousi ja nuolet, jotka osuvat aina maaliinsa.

Näytelmän taustalla on vangiksi saadun troijalaisen tietäjän ennustus, jonka mukaan Filoktetes tarvitaan jousipyssyineen, jotta Troija kukistuu. Sitä ennen matkalla sotaan, tämä miekkonen on hylätty karulle Lemnoksen saarelle kitumaan hulluuden partaalle ajaneen käärmeenpureman jälkeen, joka oli erään palvontapaikan suojelija.

Odysseus juonittelee Akhilleuksen pojan Neoptolemoksen narraamaan pyssy jousineen, jotta sota voitetaan. Nuorukainen tekeekin työtä käskettyä, mutta omatuntu alkaa soimata, jolloin päättää paljastaa Filoktoteelle petoksen. Siitä yhdeksän vuotta nälkää ja kurjuutta nähnyt kreikkalainen vain huutaa ja vikisee, jolloin jumalten on jälleen puututtava tapahtumiin. Seuraa klassinen deus ex machina, jolloin Herakles pyyhältää taivaalta kertomaan, että Filokteteesta tulee sankari ja hänen märkivä käärmeenpuremansa parannetaan, kunhan lähtee vihamiehensä Odysseuksen ja miehistön mukaan.

Näytelmässä on päähenkilön eksistentiaalista ahdistusta ja yksinäisyyttä, ja toisaalta moraalista pohdintaa, voiko hyvän tarkoituksen vuoksi pettää ystävänsä. Odysseuskin sanojensa mukaan tällainen: ” Olen sellainen mies jota kulloinkin tarvitaan.” Moraalinen ylevyys ja jumalan puuttuminen tilanteeseen voittaa ithakalaisen opportunistin tällä kertaa. Kuoron virkaa toimittaa Neoptolemoksen laivan miehistö.

Aias

Tommi Nuopposen Aias-tragedia on onnistunut käännös ja mukaaansa tempaava tragedia järkensä menettäneestä kreikkalaisesta sotasankarista Troijan-sodan loppuvaiheessa.

Nimihenkilö Aias päätyy puolessavälissä näytelmää itsemurhaan, ja sikäli huippukohta ajoittuukin lopun sijasta toisen näytöksen alkuun. Myös ajan ja paikan ykseys tässä draamassa rikkoutuu, kun alussa ollaan Aiaan Teltassa ja sen liepeillä ja toisessa näytöksessä yksinäisellä paikalla rannikolla Troijan edustalla.

Muutoin näytelmä noudattelee perinteistä tragedian kaavaa, niin kuin Sofokleella tapaa ollakin, eli tässä Aias aiheuttaa jumalan koston (Pallas Athene). Häntä oli siis varoitettu olemaan liian ylimielinen ja turvautua jumalien apuun, mutta toisin kävi. Aias oli väkevin soturi Akhilleuksen kuoleman jälkeen eikä piitannut vanhasta ennustuksesta. Jumala sekoitti miehen pään, kun tämä oli käymässä taistoon sekä Atreuksen poikia (Spartan kuningas Menelaosta ja koko joukon johtajaa Agamemnonia vastaan). Hulluuden vallassa Aias teurastikin ison joukon eläimiä ja niiden paimenia.

Näytelmän alussa ollaan Aiaan teltassa, kun järki alkaa pikku hiljaa palailemaan, ja puoliso Tekmessa poikansa kanssa yrittää auttaa onnetonta. Kuorona toimii Aiaan sotureita.

Toinen näytös lähtee liikkeelle, kun ennustaja Kalkhaalt tulee viesti, ettei Aiasta saa päästää mihinkään, tai huonosti käy. Teukros, joka puolestaan Aiaan velipuoli, lähtee miehineen etsimäään, kunnes löytävätkin Hektorin kaksiteräiseen miekkaan syöksyneen prinssin. Näillä miehillä oli yhteinen isä, kuningas Telamon, ja Teukroksen äiti puolestaan oli edellisen Troijan sodan hävinneen kuningas Laomedeen tytär Hesione.

Surmapaikalla tulevat vuoroin räyhäämään niin Menelaos kuin Agamemnonkin, ja jälleen kerran viekas Odysseus, Ithakan kuningas, onnistuu hoitamaan hommat parhain päin, ja kaikki onnistuvat säilyttämään kasvonsa. Lopulta veli hautaa veljensä.

Elektra

Vesa vahtikarin suomentama Elektra on luettavissa myös Euripiden ja Aiskhyloksen näytelmänä. Tässä versiossa puherooleja on yhteensä kuusi, ja niistä on enintään kolme yksittäisessä kohtauksessa.

Tarina on sama kuin muissakin Elektra-tragedioissa: Mykenen karkotettu prinssi tulee kostamaan isänsä surmaa eli hän tappaa äitinsä ja kuninkaan murhaajan. Agamemnonin paluun jälkeen hänen valtaistuimensa anastaa Aigisthos-serkku, ja teurastukseen oli osallisena myös Klytaimnestra eli Oresteen ja Elektran äiti.

Tapahtumahetkellä on käsillä entisen kuninkaan surman vuosipäivä, ja varsinkin Elektra ”surun morsian” ilmentää vaikerruksellaan ja valituksellaan kärsimäänsä tuskaa eli veljensä ja isänsä menetystä. Muutoinkin hän on hovissa kuin orjan asemassa ja muiden nöyryytettävänä.

Orestes saapuu vanhan palvelijansa ja ystävänsä Pyladeen kanssa panemaan ennustusta toimeen. Siitä kertoo muun muassa mykeneläisistä naisista koostuva kuoro.

Klytaimnestra teeskentelee miehensä surman olleen oikeutettu, ja tuskin malttaa odottaa, että Aigisthos tulee rankaisemaan tytärtään.

Muutamien juonenkäänteiden jälkeen päästäänkin loppuhuipennukseen, ja Elektran epätoivo vaihtuu Oresteen rinnalla iloon. Sitä ennen nuorempi sisar Khrysothemis yrittää kaikin keinoin Elektraa jo hyväksymään Tuhkimon osansa. Lopulta mennään sermin taakse ja hakataan yllätetyn Aigistoksen pää poikki.

57. Sophocles II : Ajax; The Women of Trachis; Electra; Philoctetes (The Complete Greek Tragedies)
translated: 1957
format: 255 page paperback (20th printing of a 1969 edition, printed in 1989)
acquired: May
read: Aug 31 - Sep 5
rating: 4 stars

There is something special about Sophocles relative to the other two preserved tragedy playwrights. David Grene says he is "the most modern, the nearest to us, of three Greek tragedians". What I think sets him apart is the power of the language itself. I know I'm reading this in translation, but Sophocles manages to make striking notes with short phrases, over and over again through his plays.

These four range quite a wide spectrum of his styles. The Women of Trachis stands out as being unusually wordy. It's considered immature, and it was the one I liked the least, although it has it's memorable aspects. The other three are each a masterwork in some way.

Ajax ~440 bce, translated by John Moore

When Achilles died, his armor was supposed to go to the best warrior. But Odysseus manipulated the process and won the armor. Ajax, truly the best warrior, committed suicide in humiliation. The manner in how he does this varies in different stories and Sophocles could chose his preferred version for the drama.

In this version Ajax sets out to kill Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus, but Athena plays a trick on his mind. Instead of attaching the men, he attacks sheep, thinking they are these men. He captures and tortures them, gloats and kills them and then passes out. Upon awaking, he is fully humiliated. The play is about how he bears it.

I found Ajax, the character, magnificent. He must come to terms with what he has actually done, and what to do about it, and about his wife, and son and brother, Teucer. He rocks with grief, then, feeling he has no choice but to kill himself, must give his family an affectionate goodbye, while concealing it from them, their servants, and the entire audience.

In the Homeric story, Ajax may well represent the most ancient aspects of Greek history. His full-bodied shield is antiquated even for the supposed time period of the bronze age Trojan War, and also for weaponry used within the epic. He is a relic from an older time, preserved. He is an archetype, silent both in his stoicism and because he in some ways defies words. I like to think Sophocles knew this, even if he didn't have the word "archetype" within his vocabulary, and that he captures elements of this here.

Unfortunately, we lose Ajax halfway through the play, and the play must go on without its best character.

The Women of Trachis ~450 bce, translated by Michael Jameson

In the tradition, apparently, Deianira, long suffering wife of Heracles, has had enough when Heracles falls for his captive, the young Iole. She sends him a poisoned gift. Sophocles' twist is to make her innocent. She intends to send him a potion from long ago that would make Heracles only love her and no one else. She doesn't realize it's actually poison. Sophocles does some interesting things with Heracles too. The play seemed wordy to me, and lacked the magical lines Sophocles creates in his other plays. And, being a Greek tragedy, it was a bit over the top with the melodrama. Not my favorite, obviously.

Electra ~409 bce, translated by David Grene

Electra is a brilliant, if understated play, with little action. Grene appreciates this in his intro and translation. He wasn't able to create the same magic Anne Carson does with her translation, and I don't think he felt and understood Electra the character as well as Carson does. But, still, this play has a lot of life in his translation too. (I reviewed Anne Carson's translation  HERE)

Philoctetes 409 bce, translated by David Grene

This was a great play to end with. It is interesting and curious. Philoctetes, a master bowman from the Iliad who uses Heracles's bow, was bitten by a snake in the foot. Then he was dumped alone on the island of Lemnos by the Greek leadership - namely Agamemnon, Menelaus and, Odysseus. But the prophecy says that Philoctetes and his bow are needed to defeat Troy. He has to come back and fight for those who punished him.

In the play it's Odysseus and a young Neoptolemus, son of dead Achilles, are sent to bring him to Troy. Odysseus plays a hard game, opening the play by manipulating the still pure and honorable Neoptolemus. He knows it must be Neoptolemus who convinces Philoctetes to join, through is own apparent integrity and honor. "It is you who must help me," he tells him, and then advises him to "Say what you will against me; do not spare anything."

Things mostly go as planned. Neoptolemus wins the elder Philoctetes over completely, but the respect is mutual. Odysseus sets the trap, captures the bow and waits for Philoctetes to finally give in, but Neoptolemus undermines it all, returning the bow to Philoctetes. It's only when Heracles himself appears, in god form, that Philoctetes relents and comes to Troy.

Odysseus controls everyone ruthlessly, never letting on about his true plans. But his machinations don't capture the audience as much as Philoctetes does. It's hard not to like this desperate, and rather disgusting and unkempt survivor. The conversation between Philoctetes and Neoptolemus is moving. When Philoctetes is betrayed he reveals that he has no god to turn to. They are all against him. "Caverns and headlands, dens of wild creatures, you jutting broken crags, to you I raise my cry—there is no one else that I can speak to—" And, later, screaming at Odysseus "Hateful creature, what things you can invent! You plead the Gods to screen your actions and make the Gods out liars." This is Sophocles quietly damning the Gods himself.

A last note about his play. These plays were restricted to three actors and a chorus. When Heracles appears, Neoptolemus is on stage with Philoctetes. Which means the actor who plays Heracles is the same one who plays Odysseus and the audience would know this. So, was it Heracles, or, wink wink, was it really Odysseus putting in his last trick?

This collection finishes my incomplete run through these tragedies. I read all of Aeschylus and Sophocles, and most of Euripides. Of three playwrights, Sophocles was easily my favorite. I see him as the gem, the full master of language, creating living breathing experiences within the restrictive constraints of the form.

Let me suffer what I must suffer. Literal healing.

A wonderful play, far from whatever idea I might have about what a Greek tragedy is supposed to be. It will be useful to look at Aristotle’s Poetics and see where that “supposed to be” comes from. It's so simple on the surface, but there's a lot going on and I'm sure I don't understand all of it. It's thoughtful and elegiac, and I'm tempted to call it Sophocles' "Tempest," especially with the emphasis on language, the playwright's tool. (Odysseus: "Words are what matter; words have power.")

ترجمه از : محمد سعیدی
که بسیار ترجمه روان و دلنشینی است.
جایگاه تراژدی های سوفوکل و به طبع دیگر تراژدی‌نویسان هم دوره او و به کل دوران طلایی یونان باستان که اسطوره های قدیم را از دل ایلیاد و ادیسه هومر بیرون میشکند در قامت پند دهنده هایی ادیبانه سطحی بالا در تاریخ ادبیات کهن قرار میگیرند که بعد ها جنس فارسی و آشنا تر آنها برای ما را میتوان به قصیده سرایی حافظ تا سنایی و حماسه‌سرایی های فردوسی اشاره کرد.
همچنین
سوفوکل گویا در هنر های نمایشی ابداعاتی در دوران خود هم داشته که تصور نشستن در پرده نمایش او میتواند برایم جذاب باشد‌‌.

روایت‌های اوریپید را بسیار بیشتر دوست دارم. روایت‌های سوفوکل سراسر مردانه‌ و پر از تحقیر زنان‌ه. برعکس اوریپید

The standout is the Philoktetes, which is a nice little piece to use as a heuristic for Hegel's theory of tragedy, insofar as Right comes into confrontation with Right, and about which I have written separately. Otherwise--

Aias

Accused of “an act of staggering horror” (22), Aias has “aimed a stroke at the whole Greek army” (44), a stasis in the camp at Troy. Athena here recalls Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, asking “Who was more full of foresight that this man, / Or abler, do you think, to act with judgment?” (119-20). Odysseus laments Aias’ “Terrible yoke of blindness” (123), finding in it “the true state of all us that live” (125). Some condemnation of those who “weave with false art a supposititious tale” (190). Indeed, “how shall I speak a thing that appalls my speech?” (214). Aias is alledegly “clear in mind” (258) and yet “anguish totally masters him” (275). The play comments on its own construction: “how at the start did this catastrophe / swoop down?” (282-3), pointing out that the catastrophe supposedly ends the tragedy, at least in the later definitions of Aristotle, Freytag, and others. Aias apparently believes that “a woman’s decency is silence” (295) and crying is “marks of an abject spirit” (320). The oikos as private abattoir, as in Aeschylus (345). His defect is perceived atimia: “but now in dishonor / I lie abject” (425). “my name is Aias / agony is its meaning” (431-2). “nor less deserving, yet am left an outcast, / shamed by the Greeks, to perish” (439-40). Tecmessa invokes Homeric moments in Andromache’s plea to Hektor (498 ff.) and Priam’s appeal to Achilles (507 ff.). “ignorance is an evil free from pain” (555), the disjunction of aesthetics and gnosis. Murder changes to suicide: “He swooned in death; this sword Hector gave Aias, / who perished on it with a death-fraught fall. / Did not a Fury beat this weapon out?” (1032-4) “Destinies of men, for the gods weave them all” (1038). Denial burial follows, a familiar difficulty—but “laws will never be rightly kept in a city / that knows no fear or reverence” (1073-4). This metaphor, which Menelaus seeks to apply to the army at Troy, violates the constitution thereof: “didn’t he make the voyage here on his own, / as his own master?” (1099-1100). A religious affront, also, in preventing the burial (1131). One of Aias’ complaints had been against Menelaus’ “procuring fraudulent votes” (1135), a democratic concept in this aristocratic myth. “how fugitive is the gratitude / men owe the dead” (1261-2). Odysseus as the voice of reason on the burial issue: “I hated him while it was fair to hate” (1347); “his greatness weighs more than my hate” (1357). The burial is Ananke (1365). Odysseus resolves to be Aias’ friend in death (1377)—cf. the Antigone for the handling of this issue—here, it is not a polis and thus not a stasis: ergo, no need to take sides in a ‘fight’ and no need for amnestia thereafter? No violations of the rules here means no reciprocal punishments required?

Trachiniae

Deianira opens by channeling Solon from Herodotus: “You cannot know a man’s life before the man / has died, then only can you call it good or bad” (2-3), and then insists that despite being alive, her life is “heavy and sorrowful” (5). She laments that Heracles’ war against the chthonians has been difficult: “This has been his life, that only brings him home / to send him out again, to serve some man or other” (34-5), the oikos placed at the service of the polis. She is advised, “if it is proper that the free should learn / from the thought of slaves” (52-3), that she should “use” her sons to sound out the “absent” father. (“This woman is / a slave, but what she says is worthy of the free” (62-3).) His latest resulted in his own taking of slaves: “he selected them when he sacked the city of Eurytus / as possessions for himself and a choice gift for the Gods” (244-5). The war resulted from Heracles’ wanting revenge for his own reduction to servitude (255 et seq.). Others argue that “love alone who bewitched him into this violence” (355), “inflamed with desire” (368). It is that “her city was completely crushed through desire for her” (431-2). Though “he has had other women before” (460), it is un decidable whether “he suffers from this sickness, / or that woman” (446-7), the same undecidability as in Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera and elsewhere, apparently a common refrain, becoming more arguably foundational the more often we trip over it, eros as less a solicitation of the constitutional order but a solicitation that is the constitutional order. Thereafter follows a lover’s revenge poisoning plot: “for this Justice who punishes / and the Fury will requite you” (808-9). Heracles himself appears late in the play, lamenting the lovecraftian problem of confronting “this inexorable flowering of madness” (999). His grievance is not unwarranted: “O most ungrateful of the Greeks, where are all you / for whom I destroyed myself purging so many beasts / from all the seas and woods?” (1011-13). His torment is “a woven, encircling net / of the Furies” (1051-2). “Neither the spear of battle, not the army of / the earth-born Giants, nor the violence of beasts, / nor Greece, nor any place of barbarous tongues, not / the landsi came to purify could ever do this. / woman, a female, in no way like a man, / she alone without even a sword has brought me down” (1058-63). “Long ago my father revealed / to me that I should die by nothing that draws breath / but by someone dead, an inhabitant of Hell” (1159-61).

Elektra

An equivocation of ‘justice’ (37) and ‘revenge’ (34). “no word is base when spoken with profit” (61). Orestes comes as “purifier” to his father’s oikos (68-9). Elektra angry that “like some dishonored foreigner / I tenant in my father’s house in these ugly rags” (188-9). Atreides have problems back to Pelops at least: “for never a moment since / has destruction and ruin / ever left this house” (510-2), the oikos as bearer of the curse. For her part, Clytemnestra thinks “justice it was that took him” (527), citing specifically the sacrifice of Iphigenia, a matter of the oikos—justice ergo a matter of household concern—hence coinciding without remainder in vendetta. Reading the lock (932). “must I then follow your conception of justice?” (1038)—which is to “yield to authority” (396). Tragic dilemma in “it is terrible to speak well and be wrong” (1039)? “no body of Orestes—except in fiction” (1217). “spare me all superfluity of speech” (1288). Matricide is in the oikos but resounds in the polis (1400 ff). “must this house, by absolute necessity, / see the evils of the Pelopidae” (1497). And yet: “justice shall be taken / directly on all who act above the law-- / justice by killing” (1505-7).

Morals of the story:

Don’t be a bitch to Athena or you’ll pay

Ajax and Philoctetes were both new to me, and both so fascinating. Odysseus in tragedy is so interesting in his own right. I wish any tragedy about Palamedes survived.

Electra is always a wonderful read, and I didn't get much out of the Trachiniae this time either, except to note that Heracles is burnt (cremated?) by choice in that and in Philoctetes, though by different people, and that Hyllus feels very shaped by avoiding the shadow of Hippolytus (and Oedipus?).

Well, 2020 has unequivocally been a year of tragedy. A quarter million dead Americans and the imminent death of the Republic. I, for one, find the bone-deep cynicism of ancient Greek culture comforting. Whether in the Iliad or Herodotus or Sophocles, one incessantly runs into some version of the aphorism with which Solon warns Croesus, "Never account a man lucky until he reaches the end of his days."

I suppose I shouldn't've been surprised by the (relative) wealth of tragedy broadcast online this spring and summer, including a live performance of  at the ancient theater at Epidauros put on by the National Theatre of Greece, a rebroadcast of Antigone in Ferguson, and several Zoom productions of Sophocles by the Theater of War. The Theater of War, founded in 2009 by writer, director and translator Bryan Doerries, presents dramatic readings- mostly classical tragedy to begin, but they have expanded their repertoire to include Shakespeare, the Bible, plays by O'Neill and Williams, speeches by Frederick Douglass and Sermons by Martin Luther King among other texts - followed by town-hall type discussions about salient issues in the readings.

As the name indicates, much of their work initially was directed toward providing programs to combat veterans suffering from PTSD, but they have expanded their audience as well to include other communities wrestling with trauma. Many first-rate actors have volunteered their participation over the years, including Martin Sheen, Paul Giamatti, Adam Driver, and Frances McDormand, whom I was lucky enough to see this year as both Jocasta and Heracles. When the pandemic began, they moved their operation to a Zoom meeting format, which was sometimes powerfully intimate and at other times too rhythmically off (due to bandwidth freezing) to really work emotionally. I'll take what I can get, though.

I love all four of these plays. I had read them before, when I was learning Greek (I read them in translation; I've only read Hippolytus in the original); I even wrote a paper about Ajax and have since believed it to be my favorite tragedy (because it's all about self-regard with me)*. So I wasn't expecting to be as moved as I was on this reading. I think it's because they're all, in some way, about the frustrations and humiliations of inhabiting a body - Philoctetes' festering foot; the shameful, paranoid delusions in the roiling brain of afflicted Ajax; Electra, barred from redemptive action by the severe social limits imposed on her sex; Heracles' skin, blistered and ulcerated by the lethal Hydra poison- and I've reached the age when my own body "misses the mark" in some way or another on an almost hourly basis.

*Even so, on that reading I missed something fundamental about this play. I had thought that Ajax was the essentially blameless victim of Athene, who drives him mad on behalf of Odysseus, with whom he is locked in a power struggle. Ajax is punished, though, for his impious independence. The messenger relates how, when Ajax left Salamis for the war, his father counseled him to strive for victory "always with God's help." "With God's help," Ajax had replied, "even a worthless man could triumph. I propose, without that help, to win my prize of fame." This perverse individualism isn't limited to Sophocles' perspective on this character. In fact, as translator John Moore points out in his introduction, Ajax is the only major hero in the Iliad who never gets assistance from the gods. At one of the dramatic climaxes of the poem it is he, and he alone, who saves the Greeks. So now I have a better reason for loving this play best. Ajax is Existential Man, going it alone to his own destruction like a boss.

I'm so excited I finished The Complete Greek Tragedies with this book. So Happy.

Oedipus the King --> I hadn't read the two Oedipus plays since like 2009, so I loved re-reading them. So tragic.
Oedipus at Colonus --> I actually really enjoyed this one a lot more than I was expecting. I'm getting really invested in the Seven of Thebes stories which I Do Not Have Time For right now, but UGH so interested.
Antigone --> One of my fav plays forever. Anne Caron's re-interpretation is my favourite, but I enjoyed Elizabeth Wyckoff's translation (yes! a lady!)
Ajax --> I had read this one already and I remember liking it but... *shakes head* I just. I cannot feel bad for him. He is such a problematic character.
The Women of Trachis --> A Super Misogynistic Play. My heart broke for Deianira and I wanted to sweep her away and protect her from all her internalized sexism. *patpat*
Electra --> So Much Love for this play. I want to play either the insanely grief-stricken Electra or the cold-hearted Clytemnestra. So Much Fun. I read this play out loud, I was so invested/into it. 10/10 recommend.
Philoctetes --> I had read this already but by a different translator (Seamus Heaney's The Cure at Troy), and I preferred the other translation, to be honest (with apologies to David Grene).