tayboud's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
skepticbook's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
koreamaria's review against another edition
5.0
Read this while working on my minor in Classics at uni. I loved all the background and context that my teacher Dr Connie Rodriguez gave.
sophieecook's review against another edition
5.0
probably my favourite greek tragedy so far, it’s just so richly filled with texture, character development and lush writing.
caliesha's review against another edition
5.0
“Our Fury who is never starved for blood shall drink for the third time a cupful of unwatered blood.”
There's a great deal I could prattle on about the tangled web that is the House of Atreus family dynamic. If I were a scholar wearing a tweed coat in the 1980s, sitting in my small-yet-comfortable office at a liberal arts university on the East coast, I would comment on the generational "curse" of the Atreus men; beginning with Thyestes and Atreus, then Agamemnon and Menelaus, and finishing with Orestes. I would tie in the central theme of philos-aphilos, making sure to throw Freud somewhere in there and perhaps Simone de Beauvoir too, with some insightful note about the rational male versus the irrational female. In truth, however, I don't feel like writing that much so I will just say this instead: This collection satisfied my Greek tragedy craving, love u Aeschylus <3
There's a great deal I could prattle on about the tangled web that is the House of Atreus family dynamic. If I were a scholar wearing a tweed coat in the 1980s, sitting in my small-yet-comfortable office at a liberal arts university on the East coast, I would comment on the generational "curse" of the Atreus men; beginning with Thyestes and Atreus, then Agamemnon and Menelaus, and finishing with Orestes. I would tie in the central theme of philos-aphilos, making sure to throw Freud somewhere in there and perhaps Simone de Beauvoir too, with some insightful note about the rational male versus the irrational female. In truth, however, I don't feel like writing that much so I will just say this instead: This collection satisfied my Greek tragedy craving, love u Aeschylus <3
jackmehus's review against another edition
2.0
The proper medium for this story is definitely as a play, rather than as a book
sleeveless_heart's review against another edition
5.0
The only surviving trilogy of Greek plays. The WEIGHT of this work, the parallels, themes, symbolism, and history are so wonderfully elucidated by Fagles. I would have missed out on the essence of the plays had it not been for the beautiful commentary.
Agamemnon is a perversion of the last book of The Odyssey, and was my favorite of the three. Cassandra and Clytemnestra steal the show in every scene they are in. Agamemnon is played like the cheap kazoo he is by Clytemnestra - for a general and a strategist, he sure is gullible af.
The Libation Bearers seemed to suffer from the middle-book slump (Also I have so many questions. Why do Orestes and Electra have so much affection for Agamemnon, but so little for Iphigenia, their own sister? Did they feel her sacrifice was justified? Did they just hate Clytemnestra more? Why do the womenfolk love and revere Agamemnon so much even after he had enslaved them?).
The Eumenides was a great read too! Apollo vs The Furies was more entertaining than most legal procedural dramas today (h*cough* She-Hulk *cough*), and Athena resolves the issue with diplomacy, tact, and grace. Justice has prevailed.
Part of my effort to read more diversely in 2023 - read a play that's not written by Shakespeare. Read alongside Neha, my Greek mythology buddy from Mythos and Heroes :)
Agamemnon is a perversion of the last book of The Odyssey, and was my favorite of the three. Cassandra and Clytemnestra steal the show in every scene they are in. Agamemnon is played like the cheap kazoo he is by Clytemnestra - for a general and a strategist, he sure is gullible af.
The Libation Bearers seemed to suffer from the middle-book slump (Also I have so many questions. Why do Orestes and Electra have so much affection for Agamemnon, but so little for Iphigenia, their own sister? Did they feel her sacrifice was justified? Did they just hate Clytemnestra more? Why do the womenfolk love and revere Agamemnon so much even after he had enslaved them?).
The Eumenides was a great read too! Apollo vs The Furies was more entertaining than most legal procedural dramas today (h*cough* She-Hulk *cough*), and Athena resolves the issue with diplomacy, tact, and grace. Justice has prevailed.
Part of my effort to read more diversely in 2023 - read a play that's not written by Shakespeare. Read alongside Neha, my Greek mythology buddy from Mythos and Heroes :)
julis's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
One, why the hate for Clytemnestra who is objectively correct–
No, mostly commentary here on the translation which is uh, archaic. Seems to have been translated around 1900 but even then it’s pretty old, and I’m torn on whether or not forcing it into meter helps anything.
This is a Dover Thrift Edition which means there’s a page and a half at the front on the Trojan War and no other commentary. Which I guess, okay, that’s how they can sell it for $3.25 (in 1996, when it was printed), but also, I would much rather have had a page and a half on guest right/family dynamics than common knowledge on Troy (…I mean. “Common” for people who are reading the Oresteia).