Iphigeneia at Aulis (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

Of the half dozen or so plays I've read in Oxford University Press's "Greek Tragedy in New Translations" series, this is the best.An excellent synopsis and analysis of the play precedes a beautiful translation, smoothing the way for students. The play is one of the keys to understanding the Trojan War -- in addition to recapping the beef the Greeks have with Troy, there is much foreshadowing of what will happen ten years down the road.After reading Iphigeneia at Aulis, it's difficult to cut any of those Greek heroes any slack. If the situation weren't so horrible and tragic, the interactions and reactions of some of the characters would be funny: Achilles, for example, extremely annoyed that Agamemnon would take his name in vain when tricking Iphigeneia into coming to Aulis; if Agamemnon had asked him for his help first, then tricking the girl into coming to be sacrificed would have been okay. Or Menelaos, coming around to Agamemnon's way of thinking (that it would, after all, be wrong to kill Iphigeneia), and suggesting that only he, Agamemnon and Kalchas the priest know about the need for a sacrifice to get a fair wind to Troy, and that Kalchas won't tell: "Not if he's dead."This play, and this translation, are probably one of the best introductions a student could have to Greek tragedy.

Of the half dozen or so plays I've read in Oxford University Press's "Greek Tragedy in New Translations" series, this is the best.An excellent synopsis and analysis of the play precedes a beautiful translation, smoothing the way for students. The play is one of the keys to understanding the Trojan War -- in addition to recapping the beef the Greeks have with Troy, there is much foreshadowing of what will happen ten years down the road.After reading Iphigeneia at Aulis, it's difficult to cut any of those Greek heroes any slack. If the situation weren't so horrible and tragic, the interactions and reactions of some of the characters would be funny: Achilles, for example, extremely annoyed that Agamemnon would take his name in vain when tricking Iphigeneia into coming to Aulis -- if Agamemnon had asked him for his help first, then tricking the girl into coming to be sacrificed would have been okay. Or Menelaos, coming around to Agamemnon's way of thinking (that it would, after all, be wrong to kill Iphigeneia), and suggesting that only he, Agamemnon and Kalchas the priest know about the need for a sacrifice to get a fair wind to Troy, and that Kalchas won't tell: "Not if he's dead."This play, and this translation, are probably one of the best introductions a student could have to Greek tragedy.

Awesome translation, and a very useful intro. I'm a Classics MA, and I absolutely love it when I find a text that makes me think completely differently about a text I've read before. Definitely would recommend.A word of caution - the kindle version is formatted a little strangely. It looks like the text is actually presented as images/screenshots on the kindle version, and all the images are different sizes, so finding a zoom setting that works is difficult. Still, totally worth it.

The concept of having poets combined with Greek Classical scholars to translate great Greek Antiquity plays is a superb one. This play is wonderful and so is the translation. However, the entire project is marred by ridiculous borders and overly small, computer generated, blotchy type that is frustrating, if not impossible to read. Don't waste your money on these cheap editions or buy it on Kindle!

Interesting.

What an insult to a beautiful text. This is the worse case of shoddy formatting of a major work that I've come across since I bought the earliest Kindle. Amazon should be ashamed to sell such careless work at any price.

Iphigenia at Aulis seems to have been constructed in a society in which it was ideal to put nation and family ahead of oneself. Euripides seemed to like this approach to duty, as the character who ends up with the ultimate compliment in the end-being whisked away by a goddess-portrays these ideals perfectly.If we were to blame one character, that character could in turn point to another for the blame. We could blame the seer (off the top of my head, I remember his name started Ch- but not much more) for making up a malicious, treacherous method of 'appeasing the gods.' How do we know he didn't just get slighted by Agamemnon at some time and wants to give him hell now? We don't.The seer would blame it on Agamemnon's own slighting of the gods. Clytemnestra would also blame it on her husband, judging from that marvelous monologue which she goes into about him having killed her first husband and child, and pleading with him not to kill another. He's not exactly on her good side (a point which is vehemently illustrated in the Oresteia by Aeschylus, when he returns from war).One might even blame Artemis, but one can't blame a god for being a god, so it's useless to point the finger at her. What's one more virgin maid to them?One can always blame somebody. We might as well blame Orestes. He was crying.It's no use to look for blame. Anyway, she didn't end up being killed. (Or DID she? Always the clincher. Were they all lying just to appease Clytemnestra?)Of course, if we're to go based upon "Iphigenia at Tauris," one of Euripides' other dramas, she definitely did get away. How quaint. Yay for deus ex machina. Confetti!