So, so great!

aristotle was right

Normally don't rate books anymore but, my god, this was good

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, translated by Robert Corrigan is included on The 100 Greatest Books of All Time list…another look at it is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/...
10 out 10

Until yesterday, I was under the wrong impression that Oedipus is a character created by Sophocles, and then of course, taken over by Sigmund Freud and voila, we also have the Oedipus Complex, as in the individual who has the urge to have sex with his mother, I think the equivalent is the Electra complex, for females

However, the under signed is not a fan of Freud, I have read that most important psychologists no longer hold him to be the Magister Ludi, notwithstanding his stature as a story teller, the insistence on sex, the notion that babies have sexual urges, penis envy, and the concentration of this at such tender ages appears to be flawed
Coming back to Oedipus, I have seen a splendid documentary https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... that presents The Grand Myths of the Ancient Greeks and the revelation is that the famous, wretched King had had his legend, before Sophocles

The story of Oedipus starts with his father, Laius, born in Thebe, but forced to find refuge with king Pelops, who has a son, Chrysippus, and the king thinks it is a good idea to have Laius instruct the boy, alas, the guest kidnaps the pupil and rapes him, which leads to the suicide of the victim, and the wrath of the father…
King Pelops curses the guest he cannot kill because of the law of hospitality, which had been anyway trampled on by the visitor when he assaulted the son, to die without a descendant, to leave the earth with his line ended…after a while, Laius can be a king in Thebe, and this is where he marries Jocasta, but they have no children

Like almost every one else we meet in these legends, when they have a query, the ultimate sage is the Oracle of Delphi, who will tell them like ‘the way it is’, like Chili Palmer in Get Shorty https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/... The Oracle had a pronouncement on Socrates
The latter was declared the wisest man of antiquity, and he was puzzled by that, looking around for the reason – he noticed that all around act as if they know the answer on horses, agriculture, things that are out of their remit, while the philosopher keeps asking questions, he does not claim to know, what he does not know
Which was the simple answer, this is why they anointed him the Sage of Omaha – joking, that is Buffett, of course – as for Laius, the Oracle had some terrible prophecy – the king must not have children, because if he would, then the son will kill him, so he returns to Thebe and stays away from Jocasta, for some time

He is philandering with men, only one day, he has intercourse with the spouse, and nine months later, he is faced with the memory of the sinister prophecy, he does not want to kill the baby himself, but is cruel enough to call a shepherd, order him to dispose of the child, so that animals will prey on him, and so disable him
The shepherd is told to perforate the ankles, cutting the tendons, so that the poor soul could not move, only the man takes pity, and, instead of murdering him, he gives him to a stranger, and he ends up with King Polybus in Corinth, where Oedipus – the name refers to what they have done to his feet – is raised as a successor

Alas, at a party, one of the participants is inebriated and shouts that Oedipus is just a found baby, and when the latter is asking for the truth, he does not get it, travels to the same old Delphi, where the oracle says ‘you will kill your father and marry your mother’, ergo the stigmatized fellow flees from his fate…
Tries to anyway, escaping Corinth, so that he does not murder Polybus, but as he comes to a crossroads, an old man with his chariot would not give way, furthermore, he seems to have done something to the younger traveler, enough for the fury to lead to the killing of Laios (should we say good riddance, it is tempting)

After this, Thebes will suffer from a plague, sent because an unpunished killer is within the walls of the city – Oedipus has his chance soon, since there is a creature, The Sphynx, part woman, part animal, who is asking questions and then destroys the victims that had been unable to answer, and this is a challenge for the young man
The Sphynx asks what has four legs in the morning, two at noon and then three in the evening, and after a pause, Oedipus has the correct solution, this is man, with his ages, as a child, adult and then old, he needs a cane…because he saved Thebes, he is the new king, married with Jocasta, the widow queen, and they have four children

Nevertheless, the king has to confront another crisis, and then finds that King Polybus is dead, and puzzled by the Oracle’s prophecy, he finds that he was not the son of the king of Corinth, so he presses Tiresias, the blind prophet, who refuses to reveal the awful truth, which will still come out, when one witness is called out
Aristotle https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/... wrote about the elements needed for the success of a tragedy, and one was the need for a revelation and reversal, and in the case of Oedipus King, they come together, it is revealed that the king had killed his father and married his mother, in a stunning reversal…

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

This play has many key elements that hide just out of the reader's grasp. Figurative language and symbolism are around every twist and turn of this play.

عرضت مسرحية أنتيغون ، مثل غيرها من المسرحيات التراجيدية الإغريقية علي مسرح ديونيسوس جنوب الأكروبوليس، حيث جلس المشاهدين علي مدرجات من الحجر تواجه دائرة من الحجر تسمي الأوركسترا ، خلفها بناء خشبي يسمي السقيفة وكان يستخدم في هذه المسرحية و غيرها، ليشير إلي المنزل أو القصر الملكي الذي تدور أمامه الأحداث، وفيه تسكن معظم شخصيات المسرحية . و تعتبر السقيفة الحد الفاصل بين ما يراه الجمهور و ما لا يراه، أي بين الظاهر والخفي، وبين العام والخاص . و من ثم يمكننا أن نقول إنه يفصل بين عالمي الرجل و المرأة

و كانت الشخصيات الرجالية تدخل المسرح من المداخل الجانبية وتخرج منها أيضا بعد انتهاء أدوارها، وكان أحد المداخل يشير لخروج الشخصية لتذهب إلي شوارع المدينة والآخر عند خروجها تجاه بوابات المدينة وإلي السهل الذي يقع خلفها . بينما كانت الشخصيات النسائية تدخل وتخرج من مكان واحد يمثل باب القصر أو المنزل، وكانت أنتيغون هي الاستثناء الوحيد لهذه القاعدة، إذ خرجت من أحد المداخل الجانبية لكي تدفن أخاها . و كان كل ما يحدث خارج خشبة المسرح بعيدا عن عيون الجمهور ( سواء داخل المنزل أو بعيدا عنه ) يروي للمشاهدين علي لسان إحدي الشخصيات ( الرسول أو الحارس، وغيرهم ) .

و تدور أحداث المسرحية أمام قصر ملك طيبة السابق " أوديب بن لايوس "

الحبكة
تبدأ المسرحية بعد موت الأخوين المتنازعين إتيوكليس المدافع عن المدينة وبولينيكس الذي هاجم وطنه بالتحالف مع أرجوس، وبعد أن سقط كل منهما صريعا بيد أخيه تحقيقا للعنة التي صبها عليهما والدهما الراحل أويديبوس .

في المشهد الأول من المسرحية نري أنتيغوني وهي تتحدث مع أختها إسميني حول القرار الذي أصدره كريون " الحاكم " الذي آل إليه عرش طيبة، وهو قرار يقضي بدفن جثة إتيوكليس الذي قضي نحبه وهو يدافع عن وطنه طيبة ضد الغزاة، وبترك جثمان بولينيكس في العراء دون دفن أو طقوس جناز، لأنه كان معتديا علي وطنه مهاجما له . و ترجع خطورة هذا القرار إلي أنه يفتقر إلي الاعتدال: لا بمعني أنه صورة من صور التطرف النبيل الذي يرمي إلي تحقيق الذات بطريقة لا سبيل إلي إيجادها فيإطار الحياة، ولكن لأنه صادر من منطلق إثم وعصيان للأمر الإلهي الذي يقضي بدفن الميت وتكريمه.

و كان من الطبيعي أن تفزع أنتيغون لدي علمها بهذا القرارالجائر في نظرها، فتصمم علي معارضتها حتي ولو كان الموت هو الثمن، إذ كانت شخصيتها علي النقيض تماما من أختها إسميني التي ما إن عرفت حتي استبد بها الخوف، ولم تتغاض فقط عن قرار كريون، بل أذعنت له وشرعت تحذر أختها من معارضته حتي لا تتعرض للهلاك.

لكن أنتيغون لا تلقي بالالتحذيرات أختها، وتقدم علي مخالفة قرار الملك، ومن ثم يضبطها أحد الحراس وهي تهيل حفنات من الثرى علي جثة أخيها، فيقوم بإحضارها لتمثل أمام كريون وأمام الجوقة المكونة من شيوخ طيبة .

اتخذت الجوقة صف كريون بطبيعة الحال، كونهم شيوخ طيبة، وبهذا وقفت أنتيغون وحدها بعنادها وتتباهي بفعلتها . و إزاء هذا التحدي السافر من جانب أنتيغون تستبد غطرسة كريون، ويلجأ إلي التهور خوفا علي هيبته التي توشك علي الضياع بسبب العبث بقراراته . و بعد نقاش عنيف وجدل محتدم مع أنتيغون يأمر الملك كريون باقتيادها مكبلة بالأغلال إلي السجن . إلي أن تنفذ فيها عقوبة الرجم حتي الموت كما يقضي القرار.

و هنا تندفع إسميني صارخة، وملقية بالتبعة علي عاتقها وحدها، متوسلة إلي كريون أن يبقي علي حياة أختها، راغبة في مشاركتها العقاب علي اعتبار أنها شريكتها في الجرم، غير أن كريون لا يري في مسلك إسميني سوى الطيش والجنون، فيأمر بسجنها مع أختها .

بالوقت نفسه ترفض أنتيغون بشدة أن تشاركها أختها تبعة فعلة قامت هي بها، حيث أن ذلك لم يصدر بناء علي إيماء بالواجب الحق منذ البداية، بل تم بدافع العطف وحده، لذلك فهي لا تقبل حبا يأتي في غير وقته أو عطفا يأتي بعد فوات الأوان

ثم يدخل هايمون خطيب أنتيغون وابن كريون في الوقت نفسه، ويبدأ النقاش مع أبيه في تعقل وهدوء أول الأمر، مفندا قراره الجائر، ومحاولا إقناعه بأن الصواب قد جانبه، وأن عليه التروي والتدبر حتي لا يعض بنان الندم . لكن هذا النقاش الهادئ بين الوالد والابن ما يلبث أن يحتدم ويصبح ساخنا، فيثور كريون في خاتمة المطاف ويستبد به الغضب، ويستنكف من أن يتلقي دروسا من شاب غر في نظره، فيهدد بقتل الخطيبة أمام ولده، وعندئذ يخرج هايمون من القصر والغضب يملؤه معلنا أنه يفضل الموت مع أنتيغون علي الحياة مع أبيه .

و تخشى الجوقة من حدوث ما لا تحمد عقباه نتيجة لغضبة الشاب وخروجه محزونا سائسا، أما كريون فيعدل عن قرار الرجم، ويأمر بدلا من ذلك باقتياد أنتيغون إلي كهف منعزل، وأن تقبر فيه حتي تلقي حتفها، فلا يحتمل هو وزر قتلها .

ثم يفد إلي القصر العراف الكفيف تيريسياس " المتنئ عن طريق علامات السماء " و ينذر كريون بسوء المآب ، حيث أنه تحدي قوانين الأرباب السامية بتركه جثة رجل ميت دون دفن ، و بإزهاق روح فتاة بغير حق ، و أن ذلك التحدي سوف تترتب عليه عواقب وخيمة

و من جديد يشتبك كريون في مشاحنة جدلية عنيفة مع العراف ، يخرج الأخير علي أثرها بعد أن يفضي إلي كريون بنبوءات مفزعة ، و بعد أن يعلن أن السماء قد غضبت عليه . و بعد انصراف تيريسياس ينتاب كريون الفزع ، و يساوره الشك لأول مرة في مدى صواب تصرفاته ، فيلجأ إلي الجوقة كي يتلمس منها النصح .

بهذه اللحظة بدأت الجوقة في التزحزح عن موقفها الموالي له بعد أن لمست بنفسها جموح إرادته ، لذلك فما إن قصدها حتي حثته علي الفور بالإسراع إلي الكهف عساه يتمكن من إنقاذ أنتيغون قبل هلاكها ، و دفن جثة القتيل تنفيذا لرغبة الآلهة

غير أنه حين يصل كريون إلي الكهف -بعد فراغه من مواراة الجثة الثرى- يجد أن الفتاة التعيسة قد أزهقت روحها شنقا لتهرب من مصيرها المؤلم ، و يشاهد ابنه هايمون وقد تشبث بجسدها وهو ينتحب . و في غمرة اليأس القاتل يندفع هايمون نحو أبيه مجردا سيفه من غمده محاولا قتله ، لكنه يخطئه فيجهز بدلا من ذلك علي حياته حزنا وكمدا ، و يسقط إلي جوار جسد أنتيغون جثة هامدة .

و حينما يعود كريون إلي قصره حاملا جثة ابنه هايمون ، و هو غارق في لجة من الأسى -يجد أن زوجته يوريديكي قد انتحرت بعد سماعها نبأ هذه الفاجعة المريرة التي حرمتها من فلذة كبدها .

بعد هذه الأحداث الجسام يتزلزل كيان كريون ، و يغرق في طوفان من الأحزان ، لأن وجوده كله قد انتهي إلي دمار ، و لأن حياته فقدت مغزاها ، و صار أشبه بالموتي رغم أنه ما زال علي قيد الحياة

Barbarian stuff. Very good.

The stark juxtaposition of classical texts like this with our contemporary ‘mass produced’ culture is truly striking. Stories are meant to make you feel good, and if they don’t - why read them? Can all this suffering be worth it? I’m reminded here of a Brave New World.

The unfortunate truth is that when you deny the bad feelings, you lose out on so much more - beauty, truth, meaning. We become numb, fragile, our own suffering becomes alien to us, we don’t know it, cannot tolerate it, cannot learn from it. Any feeling which does not fit with the emotional breadth of a teaspoon is medicalized.

There is so much we can learn from the rich culture of the tragedy.

These tragedies all have a mythical flavour to them. They each emphasize the folly of humanity’s hubris before the gods. Oedipus believes he can sieze his fate away from what destiny has ordained. In fact, he is so convicted of his success that he cannot even imagine how his very ‘taking control’ of his life has brought about the very doom he seeks to escape. Upon seeing what his blind ‘power’ has done, he gives up sight and chooses helplessness before the gods.

Throughout this collection Sophocles plays with the notion of eternal, divine law. This comes out most strongly in Antigone - so contrasted is it with the proud folly of the King.

Sophocles dances on the limits of civilizational control - he’s always flirting with forces alien to to humanity - the edge of the wild. These tragedies are an effort to grapple head on with the wild, whimsical forces controlling human fate, like a ship tossed amongst stormy waters.

Electra is perhaps the most ambiguous in this regard. We do not get the same picture of a storm flung ship, at the mercy of the waves. Rather, we are given the idea that Electra and her brother have successfully taken control of their lives, successfully navigated the waves. This is a deliciously tricky part, I love the nuance here with foreshadowing - Blood must have blood. Even the point Sophocles ends it on is deliberately ambiguous, he’s not going to give you that certainty you so desire. And while the ending here is not explicitly tragic, it implies an eternal, inescapable cycle of tragedy and bloodshed. This effect is almost more powerful than to give the tragedy explicitly, to have done with it. With the others there is a sense of finality, to quote the Bell Jar

“The Floor seemed wonderfully solid. It was comforting to know I had fallen and could fall no further” (Plath, 1971, p.25)

We are left in eternal suspense. Like human fate is a darkened staircase we are walking down, never knowing which step will be that final one, always that gruesome terror before our foot finds the next step. And yet, we walk anyway

excuse me what in the what what what did i read. what.

5 January 2025 | 4.5 out of 5 stars.

n  The daughter shows her father's temper — fierce, | Defiant; she will not yield to any storm.n

What can one say about three great classics of tragedy that hasn't been said hundreds of times over the last two thousand or so years? Not much. But, if you don't mind, dear reader, I'd still like to devote a few words to the cause.

Antigone surprised me with its strong female protagonist - a young woman who would rather die doing the right thing than sit idly by while her family, traditions, and gods are disrespected. It also surprised me in its awareness of the novelty of this fact. Both Antigone's sister, Ismene, and Creon, the chief antagonist of this play, make comments about Antigone's decision to step out of her expected social role as a meek and grieving sister.

Ismene tries to rein her sister in, reminding her "that we | Are women, not made to fight with men." Creon would rather show unrelenting strength, even if it means cruelty, toward this girl who has lost her father, mother, and now both her brothers, than be seen to capitulate to the whims of said girl. "Better far | Be overthrown, if need be, by a man | Than to be called the victim of a woman." Well, overthrown he was, but not in a coup d'etat. Rather, he exiles himself when he sees that Antigone was not the only one willing to die for her principles; his only surviving son commits suicide when he discovers that Creon refused to take his counsel in showing leniency toward Antigone and that his punishment drove her to hang herself.

Electra depicts a similar releationship between the titular character and her sister, Chrysothemis, as is seen between Antigone and Ismene. Electra, refusing to cut short her mourning of her father, Agamemnon, chooses to suffer the life of a slave-girl rather than forgive her mother and her lover for killing her father so she can live in the aristocratic comfort she had known prior to her father's death. Chrysothemis, echoing Ismene, attempts to reminder her sister of what she is up against: "Do you not reflect | You are a woman, not a man? how weak | You are, how strong your foes?" But Electra looks to the examples of women in her own history - Niobe and Procne - and remains steadfast in her love and grief for her father.

Though her torments are ended with the intervention of a man at the end of the play, Electra's piety and loyalty are the the through-line here. Her unwavering love for her father got her into this mess, but her unwavering love for her brother is what helps get her out of it. "Spurning dishonour, you have won a double fame: | Courage is yours, and wisdom."

Lastly, we have the most famous poor sop in all of history: Oedipus the King. I don't have much to say about this one as I think most of the "enteratinment value" here is found in experiencing the story and watching Oedipus's world unravel around him, piece by piece. Instead, I'll take a moment to clown on the clowns who think they're so clever when they say either that Oedipus is an idiot and took too long to figure everything out or that, knowing the prophecy, he should have been more careful about killing and marrying all willy-nilly.

If one reads one of the most well-known stories from ancient myth and thinks they're smart for knowing things the characters didn't know, they either (a) didn't pass 7th grade literature where they would have learned the definition of "dramatic irony"; (b) don't understand the point of tragedy as a genre; or (c) are just a generally insufferable individual. Seeing characters you care about or identify with hurtle toward their unhappy fate even as they think they're avoiding it is half of the entire point of stories like Oedipus's. But, to paraphrase Orestes:

n  "… If retribution | Were swift and certain, and the [psuedo-intellectual weirdo] | Paid with his life, there would be fewer [twats on the internet]."n

A lovely collection of plays, centered for the most part around women. An elegant and eminently readable translation, with a very helpful introduction and explanatory notes. Some rambling thoughts on each play collected below.

Antigone

Antigone’s brothers Polynices and Eteocles had killed each other fighting over the Theban crown, leaving their uncle Creon to take the mantle of king. Creon’s first decree is that Polynices’ corpse should be left to rot unattended, as punishment for besieging Thebes with foreign troops. Antigone bristles, and defies her uncle to give Polynices the proper burial rites, arguing that divine laws override human laws.

This was surprisingly meh. Maybe because I had very high expectations of it, and it did not really live up to them.

Oedipus the King

Oedipus rules over a Thebes wrecked by plague and all sorts of other misfortunes. His brother-in-law Creon goes to Delphi to consult the oracle of Apollo, who tells him the troubles in Thebes can be traced back to the murder of its former king, Laius. Oedipus sets about solving this murder, slowly unravelling both the mystery and his own life – because of course, it turns out that he killed Laius, his birth father, and in wedding Laius’ wife Iocasta married his own mother. Iocasta and Laius had been aware of a prophecy warning their son will kill his father and marry his mother, which is why they had baby Oedipus taken away to be killed – instead he ended up being adopted by the king of Corinth and brought up as his son. Oedipus too learnt of the prophecy as a young man, which prompted him to flee Corinth and his (unbeknownst to him) adoptive parents. He ended up in Thebes.

Oedipus the King is amazing. Seriously amazing. This is the second time I’m reading it, and I loved it as much as the first time.

But I have so many questions about prophecies – in this particular case the prophecy being made and shared is the whole reason the tragedy occurred. Had Oedipus’ parents never heard the prophecy, they would not have sent their son away. If Oedipus had grown up in Thebes, he would not have killed his father without facing death or banishment. He certainly would not have married his mother. Similarly, had young Oedipus, then a prince of Corinth, not heard the prophecy, he would have stayed at home with his adoptive parents. So what is the function of prophecy in this context? It’s supposed to relay to humans their destiny, as ordained by divine will, but in this case it set Oedipus’ tragic destiny in motion. Can prophecy really be seen as ‘reading the future’ if that future would not have existed without the prophecy?

Electra

This turned out to be my absolute favourite of the three plays, which was a surprise. I loved it so much I rushed to find some adaptation I could watch right away; I ended up watching Miklos Jancso’s Electra, my love, so now I have Mari Torocsik’s Electra stuck in my head forever. Bless.

Electra is a princess of Mycenae, daughter of the famous king Agamemnon and his wife queen Clytemnestra. She is also the younger sister of Iphigenia, who was sacrificed to Artemis to allow the Greeks to set sail for Troy. For this crime against her child, Clytemnestra murders Agamemnon as soon as he returns from the war at Troy. She does this with the help of his cousin Aegisthus, who she then marries. Electra manages to smuggle her baby brother Orestes out of Mycenae in the aftermath, thus protecting him from certain death, but she is forced to continue living in her mother’s household, unmarried, unhappy and forever bitter about her father’s murder. Fifteen years later, she is still in mourning, and praying Orestes will come kill her mother and the current king, Aegisthus, in retribution. As one may imagine, Electra is not very popular. When Orestes does finally come, he does not intend to reveal his identity right away, instead spreading rumours that he had died. Electra’s grief at these news is however so extreme Orestes is forced to confess his identity to her, nearly ruining his plan.

The play is so wonderfully layered – we are invited to watch Electra’s excessive grief, her murderous hatred, her resentment, yet at no point does she become an object of pity to the reader, even as the play drops hints she is not necessarily in the right. Unmarried and childless, with barely a memory of the father she mourns, it would be hard for Electra to understand Clytemnestra's pain. A husband should be a protector – the play makes it clear enough that women need male relatives to defend their interests and their safety. Yet Agamemnon killed one of Clytemnestra’s children to set sail for Troy, and he returned from the war facilitated by this sacrifice with another woman in tow. Clytemnestra would have to be made of stone to tolerate him, but Electra has no way of understanding this.

Electra very interestingly does not seem to be fully aware of the implications of her beliefs. She dictates that blood should be paid with blood – it does not seem to occur to her that this is exactly the principle Clytemnestra applied, Agamemnon’s blood for Iphigenia’s; nor does it seem to frighten her that if Orestes kills his mother and Aegisthus, someone else will rise in revenge against him, setting in motion an endless blood feud. Electra similarly states the murder of Iphigenia occurred because Agamemnon insulted Artemis thoughtlessly; it is Clytemnestra herself who by contrast attributes him nobler reasons for the sacrifice, such as love for his brother Menelaus, in whose honour the Trojan war was waged. Yet this, the fact that Electra has no problem believing her father was a boastful man who would offend a goddess, or kill his child to facilitate that goddess’ forgiveness, does not make Electra wonder about him, or about her memory of him. This lack of critical thinking leads me to believe her zeal against her mother and her uncle, while cloaked in purely ‘ideological’ reasons such as loyalty to her father, is rooted in petty, everyday grievances, such as the fact that Clytemnestra and Aegisthus keep Electra unmarried and destitute.

This leads me back to Miklos Jancso’s rendition of the myth. In Electra, my love, Electra is the revolutionary, the one person who refuses to bend her beliefs for the sake of practicality, speaking truth in the face of tyranny. Her ideological purity, unlike Sophocles’ Electra, cannot be tainted by humiliation – Jancso’s Electra states very clearly that a humiliated Electra and even a dead Electra is still Electra. This made me conflicted. Can Electra, as I understood her from Sophocles, be a symbol of revolution? Sophocles’ Electra does speak her truth, she is unbending, but as I said before I think a lot of her unhappiness boils down to pettier reasons than she lets on. But then it occurred to me that revolution can be – in fact often is – the accumulation of petty, everyday reasons - hunger; violence; the perception that future possibilities do not exist. So perhaps Sophocles’ Electra is not only a revolutionary, but a more realistic revolutionary than Jancso’s. Revolution was thrust upon her and nurtured by everyday grievances, until it exploded in violence.

A final note – I found it interesting how the play deals with gender dynamics. Electra’s sister tells her women are powerless. By contrast, Electra’s brother states that women too are capable of violence, ‘Ares lives in them as well’. Women see themselves as powerless and men see them as dangerous – seems to reflect the extremely misogynic Greek society pretty well.

All in all, Antigone was the best out of three. Electra was too short and Oedipus the King contained the original manpain.