Medea and Other Plays (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Euripides (Author), Philip Vellacott (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: August 30, 1963

Medea, in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking and horrific of all the Greek tragedies. Dominating the play is Medea herself, a towering and powerful figure who demonstrates Euripides' unusual willingness to give voice to a woman's case. Alcestis, a tragicomedy, is based on a magical myth in which Death is overcome, and The Children of Heracles examines the conflict between might and right, while Hippolytus deals with self-destructive integrity and moral dilemmas. These plays show Euripides transforming the awesome figures of Greek mythology into recognizable, fallible human beings.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Euripides was an Athenian born in 484BC. A member of a family of considerable rank, he disliked performing the public duties expected of him, preferring a life of introspection. He was not a popular figure, and at some point (and for a reason unknown) he went into voluntary exile at the court of Archelaus, King of Macedon. He died c.407BC and is thought to have written around ninety-two plays, of which seventeen survive.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; First Published Stated edition (August 30, 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140441298
• ISBN-13: 978-0140441291
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Classical & Early
  • #54 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Greek & Roman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific translations and commentaries on four plays., May 17, 1999

By 

R. D. Allison ([e-mail]) (Gainesville, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medea and Other Plays (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Vellacott has provided excellent translations and commentaries on four of the plays of Euripedes, including his classic "Medea." They should be required reading of any college student. "Medea" is a study in how unbridled passion can overcome reason and lead to tragedy. This may be particularly pertinent with respect to the ongoing war between Athens and Sparta at the time the play was first presented. Medea, who had helped Jason in his quest, become his wife, and given him two sons, feels betrayed since he is marrying the daughter of the ruler of Corinth. With horrible vengence, she kills the bride and the king and then her two sons. "Hecabe" is a play about the wife of Priam, King of Troy, and the mother of Hector, Paris, Cassandra, and others. At the start of this play, the war between the Greeks and Troy is over and Hecabe is now a slave of Agamemnon. The ghost of Achilles had appeared and demanded a sacrifice over his tomb before the Greeks can set sail for home. They vote to sacrifice Polyxena, Hecabe's young daughter, despite the tears and entreaties of Hecabe. After Polyxena's noble death, Hecabe learns that her last child Polydorus had been murdered by the King of Thrace, Polymestor, to whom Polydorus had been sent for safekeeping. This finally drives Hecabe mad and she seeks vengence for Polydorus's death. Euripedes shows in this play the effects of war and vengence on innocent lives and how cruel men at war can be. "Electra" is another retelling of the vengence story of Electra and Orestes. In this version, they are less heroic and more realistic then the way they are portrayed by Aeschylus and Sophocles. Interestingly, the one true noble and honest character in the play is the peasant husband of Electra, who refuses to tough her because he is beneath her station. Was Euripedes making a social comment about the upper classes of Athens of his time? The final play is "Heracles." In this play, the wife of Heracles, his three young sons, and Heracles' father Amphitryon are in danger of being killed by the usurping king of Thebes, Lycus. Lycus wishes them dead since he had killed Megara's father, King Creon, and taken his throne and Lycus doesn't want the three sons to grow up to avenge the death of their grandfather. Heracles is believed by many to be dead. But, he returns in time to thwart and kill Lycus. Unfortunately, the goddess Hera, who has always had a hatred of Heracles, sends the minor goddess Madness down to drive Heracles temporarily insane. In his fits, he kills his wife and sons. When sanity returns to him, he realizes what he has done and how immoral the gods are. The Greek gods are not an acceptable standard for moral behavior. Man can serve as a standard, and this is exemplified in the play by Theseus, ruler of Athens.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing View of the Irrational, January 27, 2002

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medea and Other Plays (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Euripides is the dramatist of the irrational. His greatest work, The Bacchae, Medea, Hippolytus, depicts a world in which irrational passions are a powerful and destructive force. In contrast to Aeschylus, whose greatest work - The House of Atreus trilogy - describes the harnessing of irrational forces into civic fabric of the polis and rationalistic worship of the Olympian pantheon, Euripides sees the passions as uncontrollable. Some of the gods, such as Dionysius in The Bacchae and Aphrodite in Hippolytus, appear as the personfication of destructive passions. Many of the human figures in Euripides plays appear unable not only to face the force of these passions, but also unable to recognize the danger represented by the passions. Euripides view is dark but powerful and his works are compelling but dispiriting. The Penguin series of his plays includes translations by Phillip Vellacott. Though most of these translations were produced decades ago, they retain their freshness and immediacy. This set of inexpensive books is an excellent way to experience Euripides.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strength of a Woman, August 28, 2006

By 

R Meaders - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medea and Other Plays (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Euripides' Medea is a story about a woman's heartbreak and the revenge she consequently seeks on her husband. After her spouse takes another wife Medea is torn apart, unable to distinguish right from wrong. She plots to kill the new wife and eventually Medea murders her own children, all in order to spite her former lover.
Euripides expresses the power of passion without reason especially when it comes to love. Medea is willing to kill her own children out of despair, although they are the only people she really has. She has feelings of trepidation before killing the children, revealing her humanity, but appears triumphant after completing the murders. She appears at the top of a building at the end of the show which is usually reserved for divine appearances (intro), which is a metaphor for Medea's strength and even her unyielding brutality, qualities that many deities were believed to possess.
I really enjoyed this play because of Euripides' representation of the woman. Although tragic, Medea's dramatic actions express her passion, stubbornness, power, as well as her godliness and simultaneous humanity.