Customer Reviews

The Oresteia

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The Oresteia is of course one of the most wondrous texts of Ancient Greek civilization; however, I will discuss the translation of the text instead of the story context here. I had first purchased the Robert Fagles translation published by Penguin at the local bookstore; however, as I read the Fagles text I became more and more confused. The language Fagles uses, although beautifully written, does not closely follow the text and is hard to understand, and sometimes I would find myself rereading the same sentence over and over to try to guess the meaning. When I finally got the Lloyd-Jones translation, however, the text became much clearer, as Lloyd-Jones follows the Greek closely; although the Oresteia is by no means an easy read, I found that I could finally grasp what Aeschylus was saying. Also, Lloyd-Jones has written footnotes directly under the text, and these footnotes are very helpful. The plays in the Oresteia, especially Agamemnon, is riddled with many mythological metaphors and cultural aspects of Greek life, and the footnotes address these particular points. Hugh Lloyd-Jones really does a fantastic job at translating Aeschylus, and I highly recommend this particular edition for a great read of Greek Tragedy.

An excellent presentation of the trilogy. Way back in 1970, Sir Lloyd-Jones had come out with the three plays in individual format and filled with annotations. Now, all three plays are together. And all three plays should be required reading for new students at a university. The first play in the Oresteia trilogy (the only extant Greek trilogy) is "Agamemnon." The trilogy won First Prize at the Greater Dionesia in 458 B. C. Agamemnon returns to Argos from the Trojan War. He is killed by his wife Clytemnestra and his first cousin Aegisthus. Clytemnestra's reasons for the murder of both Agamemnon and Cassandra were questioned even in ancient Greece: was it for revenge for the death of her daughter Iphigenia or was it for her adultery with Aegisthus? In one of Pindar's odes (c. 474 B. C.), "Pythia 11", Pindar asks: "Was it Iphigeneia, who at the Euripos crossing was slaughtered far from home, that vexed her to drive in anger the hand of violence? Or was it couching in a wrong bed by night that broke her will and set her awry?" The Oresteia trilogy is a study in justice. Agamemnon's death must be avenged; but, this means matricide. Orestes, in the next play, should not have been the hand of vengence. The second play is "The Libation Bearers." It is the earliest known play containing an intrigue as the main plot. Electra, sister of Orestes, has been sent to the grave of Agamemnon to offer a libation. Clytemnestra is attempting to placate the spirit of her dead husband. When she and Aegisthus are killed by Orestes, Orestes finds that now the Furies will pursue him rather than his mother. The final play is "The Eumenides." The Eumenides are daughters of Night who avenge crimes committed by offspring against parents and who punished people who fail to keep their oaths. In this last play, Apollo purifies Orestes by washing him in pigs' blood. But the Erinyes reject Apollo's order to leave Orestes alone. The conflict is resolved via a trial overseen by Athena. This play is the earliest known drama containing a complete change of scene.

Everything was great besides that there were some black markings on the side of the book.

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