Customer Reviews

Aeschylus, 2 : The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, the Suppliants, Prometheus Bound (Penn Greek Drama Series)

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I must preface this by saying that my view of this book is colored by the translation of the Persians, which is the only play I will discuss hear. It is hard for anyone who has read Aeschylus' work to fathom how Slavitt could call his interpretation of The Persians a translation. The fact that he inserts a new character, "The Prologue", automatically qualifies it as a far cry from "loyal to the Greek original[s]". Also, in complete contrast to Aeshylus' ability to exhibit human emotion and circumstance through the use of beautiful and powerful language, Slavitt resorts to a heavy heaping of cursing not only to convey anger, but to portray the Persians in the most base manner possible.
Slavitt's work could be described as a piece based on the ancient play, but nothing more than that. His interpretation is laden with prejudices formed from modern conflicts and political situations. He is clearly making an attempt to draw a modern American audience into what he thinks the message and emotions of the play was in ancient Athens. Unfortunately for those interested in ancient literature, Slavitt sees Aeshylus' "message" through the perspective of a very opinionated 20th and 21st century conservative American. This is a complete failure as a translation, but a good example of how scholars can alter texts and stories to fit their personal agendas. I feel sorry for the poor light that this play sheds on the rest of the book. But if the cover specifically states that these are "loyal" translations, it is a slap in the face when one reads such a loose adherance to the original texts (which even Bovie admits to in his prologue to Seven Against Thebes, although his work does not reach the "non-literal" level that Slavitt's The Persians did...).

To anyone who enjoys classic Greek drama, I have one small bit of advice: avoid this book. I am generally open to translators taking some latitude and license with translations of classic texts, but in this instance that approach is stretched far beyond what is reasonable. David Slavitt engages in nothing short of raw butchery as he heaps the text with anachronistic references, slang and vulgarity. What could possibly make Slavitt think it is appropriate to include in "The Persians" a reference to a "thousand-year reich"??? Xerxes as Hitler? No thanks! In an effort to "modernize" these stories, Slavitt succeeds only in destroying their dignity. The result is a "translation" that bears little resemblance to the original works. It's pretty tough to screw up badly enough to get a one-star rating from me, but Slavitt managed to do so. Simply awful.