Suppliant Women (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) [Paperback]

Euripides (Author), Rosanna Warren (Translator), Stephen Scully (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 019504553X | ISBN-13: 978-0195045536 | Publication Date: February 9, 1995

Already tested in performance on the stage, this translation shows for the first time in English the striking interplay of voices in Euripides' Suppliant Women. Torn between the mothers' lament over the dead and proud civic eulogy, between calls for a just war and grief for the fallen, the play captures with unremitting force the competing poles of the human psyche. The translators, Rosanna Warren and Stephen Scully, extenuate the contrasting tonalities in counterpoint of female lament and male reasoned discourse in this play where the silent dead hold, finally, centre stage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This translation of Euripides' Suppliant Women, with its introduction, clearly surpasses others readily available in the U.S. in paperback....Scully's introduction is particularly effective at calling attention to striking stage effects and in linking the visual and thematic aspects of the play."--International Journal of the Classical Tradition

"A distinguished addition....Enormous amounts of care and poetic talent have clearly been lavished on the preparation of this text, and the result is a translation so strong and surefooted that the play appears in a new light....Their translation reveals an inner strength and power in the play that has evidently always been there, but which has never been so clearly revealed in translation....In particular the two collaborators have paid painstaking attention to the structure and intent of Euripides' startingly modern dramaturgy....A thorough and provocative introduction....It is a pleasure to savor Rosanna Warren's stately and dignified poetry....Warren's poetry alone conveys a variety and power which elevate the text beyond its usual status....An excellent set of notes...and a useful glossary rounds out this lively new translation, which should give Suppliant Women a new life in the classroom and in the theatre."--Harvard Review

"Because of the quality of the translation and the convenience of the single-volume, paperback format, these are my texts of choice."--William T. Cotton, Loyola University

"A particularly fluid translation with an excellent introduction and notes. I was particularly impressed by the attention paid to theatrical concerns and the restoration of the reputation of this play in the introduction."--Douglas Domingo-Foraste, Cal State University, Long Beach

"A superb translation and perhaps an even better introduction."--Philip F. O'Mara, Bridgewater College

"A distinguished addition. Enormous amounts of care and poetic talent have clearly been lavished on the preparation of this text, and the result is a translation so strong and surefooted that the play appears in a new light. Their translation reveals a inner strength and power in the play that has evidently always been there, but which has never been so clearly revealed in translation. In particular the two collaborators have paid painstaking attenting to the structure and intent of Euripides' startingly modern dramaturgy. Thorough and provocative introduction. It is a pleasure to savour Rosanna Warren's stately and dignified poetry while learning to read the plot. Warren's poetry alone conveys a variety and power which elevate the text beyond its usual status. An excellent set of notes and a useful glossary rounds out this lively new translation, which should give Suppliant Women a new life in the classroom and in the theatre."--Harvard Review

"This new verse translation of Euripides' 'Suppliant Women' is a distinguished addition to the ever-growing series, Greek Tragedy in New Translations. Enormous amounts of care and poetic talent have clearly been lavished on the preparation of this text, and the result is a translation so strong and surefooted that the play appears in a new light."--Harvard Review

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 9, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019504553X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195045536
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #853,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compassion for the dead and the folly of war., June 21, 1999

By 

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

This review is from: Suppliant Women (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) (Paperback)

The suppliants in this play by Euripides are seven women and their king (Adrastus, King of Argos) who have come to Athens and its leader, Theseus, to ask for aid in their quest. The women's seven sons had been killed in battle against Thebes in the attempt by Polyneices to regain his inheritance from his brother Eteocles (both sons of Oedipus). Argos lost the battle and both of the sons of Oedipus were killed. The new ruler of Thebes, Creon (the brothers' uncle), refused the mothers the right to recover their sons' bodies for burial. Theseus, at first, refuses to help them since it was Adrastus's folly to get involved in that war; however, Theseus is persuaded by his own mother. This is another of Euripides's "irony" plays in which he points out the folly of war, particularly wars whose origins are long in the past (such as the war Athens was currently involved with Sparta).