A good compilation of classic Greek tales of tragedy. These stories form the basis for many modern adaptations.

like surprisingly stellar

Not keen to fall behind on my Ancient Greece reading, I picked up these four plays from the great Golden Age revitalizer of Athenian theater, responsible, in his time, for producing works of vastly increased sophistication - in set design, structure, psychology and dramatic heft - related to what came before. “Ajax” is, for a tragedy, somewhat hopeful of a tale, one of post-mortem redemption and former enemies moving past grievances. “Electra”, on the other hand, is a true-to-Gods tragedy of intrafamily cut-throating, its final matricide seeming to merely leave the survivors wallowing in their continued cycle of violence. Bipartite “Women of Trachis” weaves a family’s downfall to cunning and deceit. Finally, in “Philoctetes”, death and downfall are averted, and it manages to be the most optimistic of the bunch, with re-established allies setting sail for Troy, in accordance with the will of the Gods (not that one would have an alternative in this type of tale).