Aeschylus: Agamemnon (Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama) [Paperback]

Aeschylus (Author), Philip de May (Translator), P. E. Easterling (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521010756 | ISBN-13: 978-0521010757 | Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Treating ancient plays as living drama. Classical Greek drama is brought vividly to life in this series of new translations. Students are encouraged to engage with the text through detailed commentaries, including0 suggestions for discussion and analysis. In addition, numerous practical questions stimulate ideas on staging and encourage students to explore the play's dramatic qualities. Agamemnon is suitable for students of both Classical Civilisation and Drama. Useful features include full synopsis of the play, commentary alongside translation for easy reference and a comprehensive introduction to the Greek Theatre. Agamemnon is aimed primarily at A-level and undergraduate students in the UK, and college students in North America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Philip de May's English version, which compares rather well with other currently available translations, is no mere crib but a powerful and actable text in its own right. The speeches and dialogue flow beautifully, and in the lyric passages his language sensitively reflects the metrical alternations in the original...Judging by the quality of this little volume (issued, it must be said, at an exemplary low price), school and college libraries will do well to take out a subscription to the whole series.' London Association of Classical Teachers

Book Description

Classical Greek drama is brought vividly to life in this series of new translations. Students are encouraged to engage with the text through detailed commentaries, including0 suggestions for discussion and analysis. In addition, numerous practical questions stimulate ideas on staging and encourage students to explore the play's dramatic qualities. Agamemnon is suitable for students of both Classical Civilisation and Drama. Useful features include full synopsis of the play, commentary alongside translation for easy reference and a comprehensive introduction to the Greek Theatre. Agamemnon is aimed primarily at A-level and undergraduate students in the UK, and college students in North America.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521010756
• ISBN-13: 978-0521010757
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, if a bit dogmatic., April 3, 2003

By 

Timothy Doran (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aeschylus: Agamemnon (Greek text with Introduction and Commentary) (Paperback)

[Note: This edition is a text in ANCIENT GREEK with notes in English. It has no text in English if you are looking for one. There are many to recommend. The best translation of the Oresteia, of which this work is the first part, is in Tony Harrison's Collected Works; the worst, in my opinion at least, was written by Ted Hughes. All the rest are good.]
This is a superb edition with one caveat. At the moment, educated consensus generally holds that a line of poetry seldom has one meaning. Denniston and Page's text plus commentary of Agamemnon apparently was written before this consensus formed. Denniston and Page are feisty, dogmatic, and insistent that they are right, and are largely reacting to Fraenkel's massive text plus commentary to the same play. They take issue with Fraenkel on a number of points while acknowledging his immense erudition. I have no reservations, however, recommending this edition. It was very useful and well-thought out. I give it a high rating.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the standard commentary on the Agamemnon, May 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Agamemnon: 3 volumes (Hardcover)

Since its publication in 1950 it's been the standard scholarly commentary on the Agamemnon, on of the greatest and most read Greek tragedies. Although it's not easy to handle, very elaborate and showing it's age a little,it's nevertheless a monument of modern classical scholarship.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragedy Personified, November 4, 2007

By 

C. L Wilson (Elmhurst, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aeschylus: Agamemnon (Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama) (Paperback)

First in a trilogy about the return of the Greeks after the Trojan War. Powerful stuff. Such horrors and tragedy as only the Greeks can master. Agamemnon's father killed his brother's children and set their flesh before him to eat, unknowingly. Agamemnon himself killed his own daughter as a sacrifice to the gods for success in the Trojan War, and when he comes home after ten years (which is where the action begins), his wife, Clytemnestra, stabs him to death in a plot with Aegisthus who was the son of the father who ate his children, and in the next part, Orestes, Agamemnon's son will return and kill them both. Please don't think I'm giving away plot here. Plot is not the point, the writing of it is all. To see it staged by first-rate actors must be a real thrill indeed.