Customer Reviews

Medea and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics)

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I think this is one of the better compilations I've seen. I've really been impressed with all of the Oxford World's Classics series. The information given in the Introduction as well as the maps and reference materials mentioned are very helpful. In addition I like having the notes listed at the end of the compilation rather then interspersed, I find it less distracting that way. A must have for any Greek Literature Scholar.

Although writing around 450B.C., Euripedes still holds importance for anyone interested in modern drama. Indeed, I came to Euripedes et al. because of "The Wire" creator David Simon's admission that large parts of his show's plot and characterisation were "stolen" (his words) from the three great Greek tragedians (the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles).

Euripedes holds a reputation as possibly the darkest of all the Greek playwrights (so dark that he was deeply unpopular in Athens, repeatedly mocked by Aristophanes in his plays, and forced into exile in the last years of his life). "Medea" is probably his most famous work, and indeed it is exceedingly dark stuff, dealing with child murder and revenge just for starters.

But what makes Euripedes' work endure is the extreme economy he employs in his works, along with the means of expressing this economy: "Medea" runs to perhaps fifty pages, and he was the first playwright to use everyday, idiomatic language as the language of the gods and classical heroes. In so doing, "Medea" and the other works featured here are a reminder of the enduring power of sparse and direct language.

The item had major water damage, but the seller emailed me explaining this before he sent it. Very responsible.

"Helen" is the last play in this volume, and unlike the others is not a tragedy, but a satyr play. This means that everyone doesn't die at the end, but the play is taken from a relatively happy mythological theme. "Helen" departs from the Homeric tradition, because Euripides claims that Helen was never actually taken to Troy, but was left in Egypt by Paris when he came their, and a simulacrum of Helen went to Ilium. Euripides has Menelaus and the fake Helen reach Egypt, where Helen is in danger of being taken as a wife by the new pharaoh. After they have recognized each other, they try to use trickery to escape the land of the Nile and return to Sparta. Read this volume to find out how it happened.

Very fast shipping ! I didn't expect it to come so quickly with standard international shipping. Besides, the book is brand new as described on the site.
I am very pleased, thanks.