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anisha_inkspill's review against another edition
4.0
I am dropping my rating to 4 stars, this is not a criticism on the play, it’s more a reflection of my journey as a reader, where this time round, I read this with less awe and being starry eyed.
I chose to read this again when this came up as one of the Goodread groups this month, I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but have read again since 2019.
This time, I wanted to read a translation written outside our time, so I chose one from 1906 by Lewis Campbell.
Back in 2019 it was harder for me to connect to Electra’s depth of grief, where nothing consoles her. This time it was different. This had nothing to do with the translation: quickly skimming over again Anne Carson’s translation, it flows better but Lewis Campbell’s translation, that is in the public domain, is good enough.
This difference comes from me having a better grasp of this old world – so once what seemed melodramatic now feels heartfelt.
However, my sympathies are still torn between both Electra & Clytemnestra. It’s really clever how the drama is presented so I can empathise with both their point of views.
It’s this complexity that makes this one easy to return to and read again.
I chose to read this again when this came up as one of the Goodread groups this month, I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but have read again since 2019.
This time, I wanted to read a translation written outside our time, so I chose one from 1906 by Lewis Campbell.
Back in 2019 it was harder for me to connect to Electra’s depth of grief, where nothing consoles her. This time it was different. This had nothing to do with the translation: quickly skimming over again Anne Carson’s translation, it flows better but Lewis Campbell’s translation, that is in the public domain, is good enough.
This difference comes from me having a better grasp of this old world – so once what seemed melodramatic now feels heartfelt.
However, my sympathies are still torn between both Electra & Clytemnestra. It’s really clever how the drama is presented so I can empathise with both their point of views.
It’s this complexity that makes this one easy to return to and read again.
eb00kie's review against another edition
4.0
Way more straightforward than [b:Euripides'|5280532|Elektra|Euripides|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1225144863s/5280532.jpg|6278827] and [b:Aeschylus'|11380405|Coephori. Greek and English. 1893 Aischylou Choephoroi. the Choephori. with an Introd., Commentary and Translation by A.W. Verrall|Aeschylus|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347559019s/11380405.jpg|44467549], Sophocles' treatment of the story improves on the latter's pacing and does away with the underlying amusement of the former. It's probably my second favourite retelling, though the one I like best among Sophocles' work.
ratitabovary_09's review against another edition
3.0
•26-03-2022 — 27-03-2022•
«De nada serviría la fama más gloriosa a quien deba sufrir ignominiosa muerte; y no es morir lo peor, sino querer morir y no poder siquiera lograr ese deseo.»
¿Es más importante vivir en agonía a morir de forma inútil? Ese debe ser uno de los mayores castigos: morir en vano. Arrojar tu vida, una obra de arte, por la borda. ¿Quién querría ser un mártir sin tener la seguridad de serlo? Es más, hoy en día, ¿quién querría ser uno?
«De nada serviría la fama más gloriosa a quien deba sufrir ignominiosa muerte; y no es morir lo peor, sino querer morir y no poder siquiera lograr ese deseo.»
¿Es más importante vivir en agonía a morir de forma inútil? Ese debe ser uno de los mayores castigos: morir en vano. Arrojar tu vida, una obra de arte, por la borda. ¿Quién querría ser un mártir sin tener la seguridad de serlo? Es más, hoy en día, ¿quién querría ser uno?
sofiasshelves's review against another edition
3.0
and here we can see sophocles who wrote both my favorite greek play (antigone) and the one that fills me with the most rage (elektra), everyone let's appreciate this man's range.
listen it's very hard for me to read this play because not only am i clytemnestra apologist but also (spoiler btw! this play is two thousand years old but still) elektra does... almost nothing? she simply waits until her brother returns and then he does all the killing. so like what am i reading then. she also condemns her mother for killing someone in response to a murder, then says she wants to kill her mother for killing agammenon. make it make sense.
with all this said, the translation i read was good and the writing did go kinda hard i said that but i stand by it. like say what i will, but this was written in 410bc right, and obviously there's a lot that separates us from the ancient greeks which make it so things get lost for me (there's over two thousand years of difference of culture between sophocles and me, and i'm not a classist where it'd be easier for me to close the cultural gap), but like this is fun.
this also made me really want to read the oresteia which i'm counting as a win.
anyway this was fun though! elektra is just not a protagonist i enjoy most of the times even if she has her moments, and overall i hate agammenon with a burning passion, so it's hard for me not to root for clytemnestra here, who is written as a villain.
listen it's very hard for me to read this play because not only am i clytemnestra apologist but also (spoiler btw! this play is two thousand years old but still) elektra does... almost nothing? she simply waits until her brother returns and then he does all the killing. so like what am i reading then. she also condemns her mother for killing someone in response to a murder, then says she wants to kill her mother for killing agammenon. make it make sense.
with all this said, the translation i read was good and the writing did go kinda hard i said that but i stand by it. like say what i will, but this was written in 410bc right, and obviously there's a lot that separates us from the ancient greeks which make it so things get lost for me (there's over two thousand years of difference of culture between sophocles and me, and i'm not a classist where it'd be easier for me to close the cultural gap), but like this is fun.
this also made me really want to read the oresteia which i'm counting as a win.
anyway this was fun though! elektra is just not a protagonist i enjoy most of the times even if she has her moments, and overall i hate agammenon with a burning passion, so it's hard for me not to root for clytemnestra here, who is written as a villain.
kitko's review against another edition
5.0
best greek play i've read so far. carson remains on top with her visceral language and cutting translation. will be returning to this again no doubt
kingofspain93's review against another edition
5.0
if I did not already know what grief was then I would read Sophocles to try to learn
graywacke's review against another edition
4.0
50. Electra by Sophocles, translated by Anne Carson
- introduction and notes by Michael Shaw
- editors’ forward by Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro
first performed: c. 405 bce
translation 2001 (Anne's introduction comes from a 1993 lecture)
format: 130 page Oxford University Press paperback
acquired: borrowed from my library
read: Aug 11-15
rating: 4 stars
Just another Greek Tragedy, but this was different in presentation. Anne Carson's translation was excellent and brought alive the tension in Electra's language in the first key first parts of this play. And the two introductions, one by Shaw and the other by Carson, pick apart the play and it's structure, revealing a lot more of what is there.
The play itself is a tragedy with a "happy" ending. Electra is trapped, living with her mother and her mother's lover, she is in serious danger, and cannot marry and bear any children. She can only cooperate. But, her brother Orestes will rescue her by killing their own mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, with the help of some clever word play.
Electra, despite her trap, becomes a presence. She maintains pitiful public devotion to her father, living miserably in mourning, and, in doing so, skillfully wields some power and influence. At the heart of this play is Electra's language and how she works over the other characters. She becomes the fury who harasses the murderers.
- introduction and notes by Michael Shaw
- editors’ forward by Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro
first performed: c. 405 bce
translation 2001 (Anne's introduction comes from a 1993 lecture)
format: 130 page Oxford University Press paperback
acquired: borrowed from my library
read: Aug 11-15
rating: 4 stars
Just another Greek Tragedy, but this was different in presentation. Anne Carson's translation was excellent and brought alive the tension in Electra's language in the first key first parts of this play. And the two introductions, one by Shaw and the other by Carson, pick apart the play and it's structure, revealing a lot more of what is there.
The play itself is a tragedy with a "happy" ending. Electra is trapped, living with her mother and her mother's lover, she is in serious danger, and cannot marry and bear any children. She can only cooperate. But, her brother Orestes will rescue her by killing their own mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, with the help of some clever word play.
(in front of a covered corpse, that Aegisthus does not know is Clytemnestra.)Clearly a happy play.
Orestes:
This isn't my corpse—it's yours.
Yours to look at, yours to eulogize.
Aegisthus:
Yes good point. I have to agree.
You there—Clytemnestra must be about in the house—
call her for me.
Orestes:
She is right before you. No need to look elsewhere.
Electra, despite her trap, becomes a presence. She maintains pitiful public devotion to her father, living miserably in mourning, and, in doing so, skillfully wields some power and influence. At the heart of this play is Electra's language and how she works over the other characters. She becomes the fury who harasses the murderers.
By dread things I am compelled. I know that.
I see the trap closing.
I know what I am.
padfoot014's review against another edition
4.0
3.80/5- read it for class but it was a surprising page turner.
Most Greek classics don’t center around women, so this was very interesting.
Most Greek classics don’t center around women, so this was very interesting.
grauspitz's review against another edition
4.0
As I have yet to read the other two playwright's take on this myth I can't compare them like others have. What I can say, however, is that Electra is definitely a character with a lot of power behind her words and the fact that this play focuses around her, a woman in Greek myth, is amazing in my opinion.
Normally I'd say if you don't like a certain character then don't bother reading books/plays that centre around them but this play displays her in such a different light that I feel like you might also view her in a different light after this.
Normally I'd say if you don't like a certain character then don't bother reading books/plays that centre around them but this play displays her in such a different light that I feel like you might also view her in a different light after this.
akalexander24's review against another edition
5.0
Solid translation--Carson veers away from the literal but gives you something more readable, well-suited for a stage production, not so much if you're looking for translation help. Great introduction and translator's forward for those who want to get into the Greek, though.