Tragedy for a modern generation
Lit by the fires of Troy
Tragedy for a modern generation
Oliver Taplin’s new translation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia is a gripping version of one of the most celebrated works of Greek literature (the translation is also reproduced in a new Norton Critical Edition, with background essays, co-edited with Joshua Billings). Originally produced in 458 BC, the Oresteia is a series of three plays – Agamemnon, Women at the Graveside (traditionally Libation Bearers), and Orestes at Athens (or Eumenides) – telling of Agamemnon’s disastrous return from Troy, his murder by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, and the subsequent retribution on Clytemnestra by her son, Orestes.
In spite of its antiquity, in spite of a male author writing exclusively for men, in a small ancient Greek city state, the Oresteia speaks to issues which are very much current today. A central theme is the “proper” roles of men and women, explored through Clytemnestra, who is characterized in the opening lines…
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