Customer Reviews

Seven Famous Greek Plays

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I considered assigning this book in a high school Advanced Placement Literature class because the selection of plays is a perfect introduction to Greek drama, but I decided against inflicting it on students because most of the plays are translated into very awkward faux-Elizabethan English, making them nearly impenetrable for the uninitiated.

Is there no publisher out there who will create an affordable anthology of Greek plays in modern translations?

This seems to be the only remaining little anthology of Greek drama. It contains two plays apiece by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and one very, very funny Aristophanes, "The Frogs," which is an especially welcome choice (over the more usual "Lysistrata") since "The Frogs" is the play which satirizes both Aeschylus and Euripides by showing them having a drama contest in Hades to see which one is best. So it's ideal for the casual reader who wants a good selection of Greek drama, and it's even more ideal for the teacher, like me, who can use it to give students a good idea of the range and styles of the three great tragedians, then end it with a delightfully funny spoof of the same guys. Some of the translations are pretty old-fashioned (too much "thee" and "thou"--the original copyright is 1938), but again for a quick sample of the full range of Greek drama in an inexpensive volume, this is ideal.

I work in a small public library which requires me to acquire materials which serve dual purposes. This title has 7 greek plays which give the reader an excellent selection of the best greek dramatists. However, the introduction provides the student with short biographies, overview of the nature of tragedy and comedy, and a history of the greek theater and the play performance. I use this book for those reports on the history of theater too. Good selection for small/medium libraries.