The Children of Herakles (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) [Paperback]

Euripides (Author), Henry Taylor (Translator), Robert A. Brooks (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1992 | ISBN-10: 019507288X | ISBN-13: 978-0195072884

One of the shortest plays in Greek drama, The Children of Herakles offers enough action for two or three plays of normal length. But this very richness and complexity have made the play elusive, subject to dismissive readings, and extraordinarily difficult to translate; in consequence, it has suffered from neglect over the ages. This vibrant new translation makes clear that The Children of Herakles is actually a wonderfully well-crafted work of art, a play offering a wealth of rewards to the modern reader.
It is a play about war and the effects of war within the state. Herakles, the legendary hero cursed from birth, was never permitted a triumphant homecoming. Here, his descendants continue the effort to return home, seeking asylum from the persecution of the king who had imposed on Herakles the famous twelve labors. While it pursues concepts of deep moral grandeur, it ends with a denouement of astonishing physical and ethical brutality, and affords Euripides a severe comment on what he believed was the decline of the Athenian character.

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Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Henry Taylor is a poet and Professor of Literature at the American University in Washington, D.C.
The late obert A. Brooks was a poet and author of the critical study Ennius and Roman Tragedy. He was also translator of Persius' satires.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019507288X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195072884
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,984,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Euripides on the age old question of political refugees, January 25, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Children of Herakles (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) (Paperback)

"The Children of Herakles" has usually been considered a minor political play by Euripides. First performed in 430 B.C.E. it tells of how the children of Herakles were exiled by from their home by the murderous King Eurystheus of Argos (the one who imposed the famous Twelve Labors on the demi-god) after their father's death. The children and their mother fled from country to country in search of sanctuary until, of course, they came to Athens. At first, the Athenians are reluctant to grant asylum, since Eurystheus might bring political and military strife on the city. But Demophon, King of Athens, agrees to admit them. Indeed, the army of Eurystheus surrounds the city and the oracles declares that the safety of Athens depends on the sacrifice of a virgin. Macaria, one of the daughters of Herakles, offers herself as the sacrificial victim. There is then a surprising twist as Eurystheus is captured and Alkmene, the mother of Herakles, insists that the tyrant be put to death.

The play has usually been considered to be nothing more than a glorification of Athens, but, of course, in more contemporary terms it is worth reconsidering this Greek tragedy as a look at the problem of political refugees. This comes approach focuses on the debate the Athenians have over accepting the refugees. In this context it is not simply that Athens is a great place because it accepts the children of Herakles but rather that doing so is a political action of some significance; historically we know that the Athenians were not as generous as Euripides depicts them, but then we also recognize that the tragic playwright was try to inspire his audience. There is also a clear sense of the refugees as being heroic rather than pathetic, not only because of Macaria's willingness to be sacrificed but simply because they have survived. You can consider every refugee to be a success story because they have survived and made it out of their troubled homeland alive.

"The Children of Herakles" works well as an analog to "Medea," with the one play dealing with the topic of how Athens treated refugees and the other touching on how the city tolerated foreigners. However, as with other plays by Euripides, such as "Trojan War," this tragedy is also a meditation on the effects of war. This is one of the shortest plays in Greek drama, but it is arguably one of the most complex of the plays of Euripides. The play suffers from having a particular character dominate the action or a truly great heroic scene and this is never going to be one of the first Greek tragedies anybody is going to look at (indeed, it apparently was never performed in the United States until just recently). But even if it comes at the end of your study of Euripides, it is still a play worth considering for what it says about the playwright and his attempts to inspire his Athenian audience.