The Bacchae and Other Plays (Penguin Classics)

Vellacott's translations of Euripides are the greatest voice anyone has given Euripides... This last volume contains high voltage energy! The Bacchae is his masterpiece and the main attraction! The only thing about this edition is that Vellacott in the 1970's revised his original putting much of the text into verse, and taking out the original prose. I find the 1954 original much much better, it is more readable and exciting than his changes. You must however look in the copyright page (towards the front of the book) to find out which print is the original 1954 version of the plays, because Penguin has a dozen of subsequent re-prints that have exactly the same front cover! This may not matter to those starting out with Euripides but to me it is a big difference and enough for me to let you all know. Thanks

Euripedes is one of the greatest dramatists in the history of the west, and the Bacchae is one of his most powerful and violent tragedies. It is the tale of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and intoxication, and of his betrayal on earth by Pentheus, the disbeliever. Despite the apparent revenge play that unfolds, the content and meaning of the work is not as clear as it seems. As the chorus declares: "The gods have many shapes. The gods bring many things to their accomplishment. And what was most expected has not been accomplished. But god has found his way for what man expected." It is Dionysus that suffers in the form of Pentheus. Dinoysus is the god of suffering, of excrement and moisture. The Bacchae is a major work of tragedy, and it established a lasting cult of Dionysus in the west, all the way up to Nietzsche and the Birth of Tragedy.

I read Philip Vellacott's translation of The Bacchae and The Women of Troy by Euripides for a Greek and Roman mythology course this summer. Having no previous experience with Greek plays, I found that these two plays have universal themes that still resonate down to our time.The Bacchae was written around 406 B.C. when Euripides was approximately seventy years old. The play is a dramatization of Dionysus' return to his birthplace Thebes where he exacts revenge, because he is not given proper recognition as a divinity. The main themes include the superiority of the gods and the importance of appeasement and justice. Pentheus, the protagonist, represents human failing to respect the gods so that he, along with the rest of society, is guilty of hubris. The story also illustrates that a complete state of ecstasy can be sanctioned through Dionysiac worship as long as it is controlled by the god. There is also a patriarchal element that outlines the gender hierarchy within the divine and mortal societies of the Greeks.The Women of Troy highlights the trials and tribulations of three women who were most affected by the Trojan War. Andromache, Cassandra, and Helen all have stories of heartbreak to tell and Euripides tells their stories in a sympathetic fashion. This play was produced in 415 BC, and it was a part of a trilogy, but the other two plays have been lost. Historically, the play was performed after the massacre on the island of Melos when the Athenians severely punished the inhabitants who wanted to withdraw from the League. Scholars have seen the play as a condemnation of the massacre set outside the walls of Troy.I enjoyed reading these plays, and when I have some free time I'd like to continue on and read Ion and Helen which are plays also found in this edition.

Although it is probably best to read some of Euripides' other plays before this collection, this volume contains the best of his extant work (in my opinion). Besides the Bacchae there are two truly great plays centering around the tragic figure of Iphigenia (a daughter sacrificed to Artemis by Agamemnon so his fleet could set sail for Troy in Homer's Iliad).Euripides has had his detractors over the centuries, but the oratory, emotion, and sensitivity of his tragedies sets him apart from Aeschylus and Sophocles (each of whom was also excellent for other reasons).

Included in this volume are two plays whose heroine are Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. One takes place before the Trojan War, and the other after her siblings Orestes and Electra had killed their mother. In the first, "Iphigenia at Aulis", she was to be sacrificed in order to appease Artemis and allow the Greek army to sail to Troy. The plot is the hard decisions the sons of Atreus, Clytemnestra, and Iphigenia herself had to make, to see if the sacrifice would be worth it. It is interesting that this also sheds a new perspective on the return of Agamemnon after the war, beause Ighigenia told her mother not to be angry about it. Obviously, because the "Iphigenia among the Taurians" took place some eighteen years later, she didn't die, but I'll leave the conclusion a surprise. The second play takes place in a barbarian land, where Iphigenia is a pristess. Orestes, her brother, has come here in exile, and is to be sacrificed because he is Greek. AFter they recognize each other, they plan their escape, but will they make it? Read these plays to find out.