tragic :( but i liked having multiple versions of the same play bc its fun to see the small differences between them!! loved electra i had been looking for a copy of it for a while, and i had already read the trojan women but it was a good reread ! good vibes (aside from the tragedies)

actually I am reading the University of Chicago translation but I already have the volume marked as 'read' due to The Bacchae


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What a bizarre take on the Electra story. There are elements of what is to come in the Aeschylus telling, but the action in this Electra is very earth-bound and intensely mundane. The murders of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra are not couched in the epic diction of the other tragedians. Electra's situation is homespun and not tragic like in Sophocles or even Hoffmannsthal.

The bizarre take on legend that you would expect from Euripides.

five plays

Aeschylus: The Libation Bearers
Sophocles: Electra
Euripides: Iphigenia in Tauris
Euripides: Electra
Euripides: The Trojan Women

good translations

I'm sticking with the on-line Ian Johnston translation of the Oreistia, in this case The Libation Bearers.... It was short and quick; direct. Definitely a middle to a story.

I'm really enjoying this series-Greek tragedies are so compelling! This volume in the series was good, however there were truly only 3 different plays-one of which was repeated 3 times, though they were separate retellings. The order of the plays was also a bit strange-there was a sequence to the different plays-they were all from a central story and the same world, but the plays were not in that sequence.

Personally, Iphigenia in Tauris was my favorite, but they were all great, though The Trojan Women was pretty heartbreaking (as expected for a Greek tragedy).

I really enjoyed the plays, and I do appreciate the groupings, this is a great read-I would recommend the other volumes as well, I'm really looking forward to the next volume!

I couldn’t quite finish the last play, “The Trojan Women”, but did enjoy the others.

Took me a bit too get through them, even in translation it was difficult to understand at point. Probably because there were really characters and the chorus had most of the lines

If you have thought Shakespeare is a must read for everyone, than I think you would agree that these Three Playwrights must also be read. I am surprised how relevant I found them to be. Euripides was especially a surprise for me. Known as a misogynist, I found him to be the first feminist writer. His woman are round, powerful, and often evil. But more importantly he delineates the female plight in his culture. I loved much of his work.

The trojan women was really depressing. Electra was hard to like, too, bc everyone was terrible. Other than that, these were tops.

richard lattimore i love u anne carson i love u. v interesting to see how each tragedian tells the story of electra/that middle ish portion of the oresteia. euripides electra is so curious … i’m gonna let her swim in my brain for a bit… i love the trojan women with all my being

Love Sophocles, love Euripides, but I was left a bit cold by Aeschylus. At first I thought it might have been the translation, but the other Lattimore translation was great.