Customer Reviews

Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persian (Penguin Classics)

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Vellacott has supplied us with excellent translations with commentaries on the four non-Oresteian plays. The seven plays of Aeschylus should be read by every college-level student, irrespective of their major (I'm in the sciences and I have enjoyed them). The popular "Prometheus Bound" is concerned with the conflict between force and injustice on one side and intelligence, justice, and altruism on the other. The Titan Prometheus, who has stolen fire from heaven and given it to Earth's mortal inhabitants, is being punished for his presumption by being bound to a rock on Mount Caucasus and tortured. He can foretell the future, but refuses to tell Zeus the secret of Zeus' downfall. "The Persians" is the least read play; probably because it has very little action. But, I like it. It is the oldest surviving play based on an event of recent history. The play was first produced in 472 B. C., only eight years after the Battle of Salamis. The speech by the Messenger in the play is the earliest known historical account of that battle. A disgraced Xerxes follows the Messenger. Interestingly, this play also contains the earliest known appearance by a ghost in a drama. "The Suppliants" is the first play of a trilogy, has very little action, and is merely a prologue to the two missing members of the trilogy. The fifty daughters of Danaus are fleeing from the fifty sons of Aegyptus, their cousins. The daughters seek sanctuary from Pelasgus, King of Argos. The play, and probably the trilogy, focuses on when city-states should give sanctuary to others. "Seven Against Thebes" is a retelling of the war between the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices. They were to supposed to share power in Thebes but have quarrelled. Eteocles seizes power and Polyneices goes to get help from Adrastus, King of Argos, and six other kings. Eteocles sends champions to fight the six kings at six of the gates of Thebes. The seventh gate is left to Eteocles. However, that is the gate to which his brother comes. Eteocles feels that he has no choice but to fight and further incur the wrath of the gods by shedding kindred blood. Eteocles had an "out" of his predicament but he choses not to use it. "When the gods send destruction there is no escape."

Of dozens of plays written by Aeschylus, only 7 survive. Three comprise the great Oresteia and the other 4 are brought together in this anthology. Most are the surviving members of trilogies. All are at least interesting and contain much powerful language. None have the impact of the Oresteia, though its impossible to know what impression they would make if read or performed with the missing components of the trilogies. The Persians, written not long after the catastrophic Persian defeat at Salamis, is a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the Persian court learning of the defeat. Seven against Thebes, part of Aeschylus' rendering of the Oedipus myth, shows an interesting aspect of the story with language recalling Homeric epics. The somewhat static Suppliants, which seems to have been essentially a prologue with its lost successors in a trilogy, is the least interesting. Prometheus Bound is the most interesting, largely because of the powerful and sympathetic figure of Prometheus. Aeschylus' Prometheus is no stick figure of virtue; arrogant, even sarcastic in his defiance of the Olympian Gods, he is a compelling champion of humanity. Somewhat like the Oresteia, a major theme of Prometheus Bound and presumably the whole trilogy is the conflict of reason and power.

I have never read Aeschylus before. I was familiar with some of the basics of Greek mythology and I've read some of Homer and Sophocles but that was about it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed these plays, with the exception of The Suppliants, which I thought was too slow and a bit boring. I liked Vellacott's translation. I can't comment on the accuracy of it, but I do think he did a good job bringing the plays to life. Once I got into the plays themselves, I could sense a rhythm for each one and made it pretty easy and fun to read. His introduction is short-a brief note about the playwright and then some background information on the plays themselves-a brief synopsis and the main themes of the plays. He doesn't overwhelm you with background information in the introduction. There are a few pages of footnotes. They weren't overly footnoted, which I liked because they didn't break the flow of the dialog.

If you have no knowledge of Greek mythology, I'd suggest some brief background reading before diving into the plays to familiarize yourself with some of the main players in the plays. Worth checking out for sure.

Vellacott's epitomizes for me the highest dramatic and poetic translator of Aeschylus and Euripides. His classic versions of Prometheus Bound, Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants and The Persians have captivated millions since they were published almost 60 years ago.

They speak an idiom that everyone can relate to and understand, he is true to Aeschylus words and gives the English language a powerful substitute...almost as if they were originally written in English!

Obviously the highlight of the collection here is Prometheus Bound. I have never read such a moving and absorbing rendition than Vellacott's!

Some of the highest wisdom I know are contained in these plays, which like Vellacott will remain for a long time still.

A decent read. Prometheus Bound is one of the classics of Western Literature - and Vellacott's commentaries are pretty helpful in understanding the history and banckground of the plays, the life of Aeschylus, and pretty good translator notes. If Greek plays are your cup of tea, this book is a decent and economical choice.

Ok, missed these in college, but I think you have to read these, and quite frankly, they're a little better with some age on you. Prometheus Bound is more interesting after you have had a chance to watch people (perhaps yourself) let their ego run away with them and get them in horrible trouble. Otherwise, at 18-22 Prometheus is an unmittigated hero, and that's less interesting. As a bonus, Prometheus was used as a model for Milton's Satan, and that Satan is pretty much the coolest Devil. If the Fonz had a big brother, wouldn't you want to meet him? Fantastic lines in this one, and the translation is excellent. "Do you think I quake and cower before these upstart gods?" Use it in your next salary negotiation.

The Suppliants is kind of a waste of time. It's obviously the introduction to the action, and not much to reflect on unless you know a woman in an unhappy marriage, and then you can supply them with the line, "I would rather meet my fate in a drawn noose/ Than give my flesh to a husband I abhor;/ Sooner let Death possess me!" That'll add zazz to any domestic argument.

Seven Against Thebes is fantastic and serves as the end to the Oedipus trilogy if you want to read it that way. Lots of great slams on the boastful and praise to the quiet effective types. It's required reading.

The Persians is great reading right now if you're not thrilled with the way America is headed under current leadership. It's about the most powerful empire in the world shattering its massive army in a war of folly. Superior wealth and technology (bridge of boats across the ocean) are squandered in the wastelands. It's from the point of view of the losers, and I can't help but think it's cautionary to the Greeks rather than celebratory. America should read it that way as well. It's eerily relevant. I read this passage this morning and it gave me the creeps:

(Mother of Xerxes's premonition concerning the fall of the Persian empire)

I saw an eagle fly for refuge to Apollo's hearth. I watched, speechless with terror; then a falcon came, and swooped with rushing wings, and with his talons clawed the eagle's head; it, unresisting, cowered there, offering itself to wounds.

Not good for us, not good at all. In any case, just about every page has some piece of wisdom on it, and the translation here puts the the thought with the perfect words. If you're enjoying Shakespeare or KJV right now but want a different flavor, give Aeschylus a shot. He has a strong grasp on the mind of the king and the burden of leadership, more so than WS. There's also a sophisticated view of how real democracy lends strength to a society, in a way that resonates with an adult brain that has become jaded on jingoism.

In life and death, Aeschylus is overshadowed by Sophocles. The most tragic thing about Aeschylus is the fact that the great majority of his work was lost in the mists of time. Three of these plays are the only surviving members of three different trilogies. The Suppliants is the conclusion of Aeschylus' own Oedipus trilogy, focusing on the final battle of the twice-cursed sons of Oedipus. Not only was this play overshadowed by Sophocles' Antigone, the final few pages are apparently spurious; someone a half century after it was written felt compelled to add Antigone and Ismene to the action, countering the writer's original presentation of the tragedy. The Persians is interesting because it is based on real history, namely the routing of the Persian army by the Athenians at Salamis. Eight years are all that separate the battle and Aeschylus' dramatization of it.

I must say that tragedy is the right word for these plays. I would dub them "poor me" dramas. In each case, one or more characters suffers an ignominious fate and bemoans his/her/their lot in life, sometimes cursing the gods to boot. In Prometheus Bound, the giant Prometheus has been chained to a rock on a mountainside as divine punishment for stealing fire from Hephaestas and giving it to humans. Prometheus is proudly defiant and has a word or two to say to just about every man and god he is exposed to. The Persians must have been received very well by the Athenians because it casts Persia and her king Xerxes in a pitiful light. When a long-overdue messenger arrives home with word that the Persian army has been decimated, the whole community wails and mourns their fate; when the defeated Xerxes arrives, he takes the suffering to yet another level, his pride destroyed and replaced with self-loathing and defeatism. Seven Against Thebes details the attack by Polyneices and his followers on his brother Eteocles and the city of Thebes. While much of the play consists of the naming of the opposing champions to lead the fight at each gate, I was most interested in the dialogue between the chorus of Theban women and Eteocles. The women rush in fright to the statues of the gods, pleading for mercy and grieving over their fate. Eteocles is offended by their defeatist words, saying such talk will spread doubt and fear among the city's defenders and is an injustice reflecting a loss of faith in the gods whose likenesses they are embracing.

I consider The Suppliants the best of these four dramas, as it contains some action whereas the other plays are basically static in setting. The story of Io, a fair maiden turned into a cow/human creature and cursed by a maddening gadfly by Hera due to Zeus' pursuit of her, forms a provocative background to this tale. Io's descendants number 50 women and 50 men, and the lustful men seek to forcibly take their female cousins for wives. The women run to Argos and seek the protection of its king and people, setting the stage for a great battle (which unfortunately takes place in a lost drama).

I enjoyed these dramas, although I can't say I would care to see them presented on stage. For the most part, nothing happens, but everyone is miserable and none too shy to broadcast that misery. There can be no mistaking these plays for comedies, yet they do speak to timeless matters of the human spirit even today.

Call me an ignoramus if you like, but I just don't like Greek drama. Prometheus Bound is the third one I've tried - after Oedipus Rex and The Clouds - and I've found them all lacking, the tragedies overblown and rigid, the comedy an imposter to the name. It's not an antipathy to antique culture per se - Homer's epics overflow with life, Ovid is a master of imagery, incident and invention, Juvenal's spleen is still bracing. It's just hard for anyone raised on Shakespeare, Wilde, Ionesco or Beckett to actually care about these rudimentary dinosaurs. I'm sure they're not really rudimentary - they must have some complexity and relevance for fusty dons to thrill over them for so many centuries, but I'm hanged if I can spot what they see in them. Just because they were the first doesn't make them the best. I grant that much will be lost in translation, especially the poetry, but as a conflict of ideas rather than people, it seems a didactic, airless, undramatic thing. Not that there aren't merits: for all its philosophy, there is a remarkable physicality to its opening, a still shocking violence I hadn't experienced since The Bald Primadonna. Although there is subsequently little of visual interest, there is a wonderful faith in storytelling, a transmutation of the present moment into the mythological or historical through imagination, that is reminiscent of magic realism. Io's plight is very moving on paper, until you visualise her as a cow perpetually pestered by a wasp, it is very difficult to suppress the giggles. Prometheus' prophecy of ther forthcoming adventures verges on the beautiful, fusing the visionary and the actually painful. In general, though, the antique mindset is too remote for me - I'd rather read Joyce.