Greek Drama

[Zeruiah]

Hello,

I'd like to start reading some of the great Greek dramas. My English classes haven't gone anywhere near the better Shakespeare plays, let alone Aeschylus or Sophocles. I want to know what is generally considered the most accessible dramas, including comedies by someone like Aristophanes, to get a feel for the genre and see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks.

[JBI]

Oedipus probably - there is way too much history and development I think to go with Aeschylus, and I think Euripides and Aristophanes really need a lot more backgrounding as well. I think Oedipus Tyrannus is probably the most accessible, and I think probably the best of them (though there are far better moments in The Orestia, as a whole play, I think this one is the most solid).

[LitNetIsGreat]

Hello,

I'd like to start reading some of the great Greek dramas. My English classes haven't gone anywhere near the better Shakespeare plays, let alone Aeschylus or Sophocles. I want to know what is generally considered the most accessible dramas, including comedies by someone like Aristophanes, to get a feel for the genre and see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks.

Cool. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, Euripides should definitely be included too. Although history and background will no doubt give a fuller understanding of these works, (as JBI says) they are still very accessible regardless.

[Wilde woman]

I really enjoyed the Oresteia. JBI is right...Aeschylus does take some background knowledge to get the full benefit, but if you've read the Iliad or are familiar with its plot, you should be able to understand everything, plot-wise. If you get the Fagles translation, he includes the excellent essay "The Serpent and the Eagle" which gives an interpretation of the play which has become one of the standards.

[promtbr]

I would agree with pretty much all of the above. I recently did my own "survey of greek tragedy" and read Aeschylus' Orestia, Sophocles Theban Plays and three by Euripedes. I read them too, just to see "what all the fuss was about" as they are so influential to western lit down through the ages.

I have no trained back ground either other than having read The Odyssey... If you have access, try to get the Feagles translations of The Orestia and Theban Plays. I would read from any of them. As been said, Aeschylus is not as accessible.

If it were me. I would first read all three Sophocles Theban tragedies..
They were all three powerful works. They were SO VERY impressive to me,
(but maybe that's because I was pretty receptive to them going in...ie. I read them for enlightenment, not for entertainment)


---

[JBI]

In terms of influence though, Aristotle's poetics - the main part of what is left, dealing with tragedy - is more about Oedipus Tyrannous than any other play. More than the rest, up until probably the Enlightenment in English, and perhaps the same time in France, that play, I would think, served as the classic model - the third speaker finally talking in the Orestia was essential to the development of drama of course, but the plot, structure, concept of time, place and bienseance all, I think, use Sophocles as the model.

Even Racine's Phedra, for instance, which is based on Euripedes, seems to have more in common with Sophacles in terms of style.

Plus, everyone who knows anything about Western culture knows Oedipus - most scholars know Aeschylus and Euripedes also, but everyone knows Oedipus - so there is that incentive.

[Drkshadow03]

For most accessible: Ditto JBI's recommendation of Sophocle's Oedipus.

For Must Not Miss List of Greek Tragedy (with the assumption that you don't want to read them all):


Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Euminides)

Sophocles' Oedipus

Sophocles' Antigone

Sophocles' Ajax

Euripides' Medea

Euripides' Hecuba

Euripides' The Bacchae

Aristophanes' Acharnians

Aristophanes' Clouds

Aristophanes' Lysistrata

Aristophanes' Frogs


This is merely a Must Not Miss list. I suspect others will look at this and say why didn't you include X or Y? It should be understood that I am only selecting the minimum and what I consider to be some of the best the various playwrights have to offer and most representative of their styles.

A lot of these books I read during my Ancient Greek Unit of private study last year and continuing into this year. So I wrote remarks about all of them, and many of the other Greek plays here (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/official-book-list-of-2008-final-count/) if you're interested.

[kelby_lake]

Antigone is brilliant; Medea is also quite good.

Oedipus Rex is weird but amusing

[Zeruiah]

Thank you for the replies everyone. Oedipus sounds like a good start. I'll see what translations my library carries and get what I like most. Maybe next year when I'm through with Ancient Greek I'll be able to read these in their originals.

I'm actually interested in learning more background information for the more difficult plays. Do you think reading survey history books like the ones below will help? (through my library of course. I can't afford to actually buy anything)

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Greece-Prehistoric-Hellenistic-Times/dp/0300084935/ref=cm_lmf_tit_10_rsrsrs0

http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Religion-Walter-Burkert/dp/0674362810/ref=cm_lmf_tit_9_rsrsrs0

http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Art-I-Ideas/dp/0714833681/ref=cm_lmf_tit_8_rsrsrs0

[Wilde woman]

Do you think reading survey history books like the ones below will help? (through my library of course. I can't afford to actually buy anything)

I'm no expert, but I'd say reading up on history won't help as much as familiarizing yourself with the epics (like the Iliad) and the more famous mythological stories. I think Edith Hamilton's Mythology or even Ovid's Metamorphoses would be helpful, if you're not already familiar with the mythology of the Classical world. Both are great works in their own right, so it's not like you'll be wasting your time.

[Diane Havens]

I'd start with Antigone. I remember it most vividly, and it's many years since I've read it. Though I have seen a production of it since then. It makes for compelling theater, even today.

[Drkshadow03]

I'm actually interested in learning more background information for the more difficult plays. Do you think reading survey history books like the ones below will help? (through my library of course. I can't afford to actually buy anything)


If you want history you should start with H D. F. Kitto's The Greeks, which I believe is still considered standard.

[kelby_lake]

I'd start with Antigone. I remember it most vividly, and it's many years since I've read it. Though I have seen a production of it since then. It makes for compelling theater, even today.

Antigone is a great one to start with. Anouilh's version is brilliant.

[promtbr]

This discussion makes me want to re-read (and read) more Greek Tragedy!

I too thought Antigone was amazing. To me tho, the most powerful was Oedipus in Colonus...

dunno, I would read them all still, moving from Antigone though the Oedipus plays...(the momentum REALLY builds if you do that)

[bluevictim]

Thank you for the replies everyone. Oedipus sounds like a good start.Oedipus Rex would make a great starting point for Greek drama. I don't know if I agree that it is inherently the most accessible play, but it is certainly the most widely read, so it will be easy to find background and interpretations for Oedipus Rex.

Drkshadow03 gave a fine "best of" list, but I don't think you should worry too much about which plays you should read. They are all short and they are all worthwhile, so you're not really going to go wrong. I'd just read the blurb in Wikipedia or the back of the book and read the plays that seem interesting. Here's a thread about Greek tragedy in case you want more opinions from LitNetters.

I agree with Wilde woman that some familiarity with Greek mythology might be useful, but I would encourage you not to get too bogged down with background reading. I think the best introduction to a Greek tragedy is the play itself. They are generally pretty well self-contained, so a quick read of the introduction in most editions is usually enough to get started. If you find yourself interested enough to dig deeper, I actually think some knowledge of the history of 5th century Greece would be more beneficial than a general survey of mythology, especially for Aristophanes.

If you're not really interested in Ancient Greek history in general, and you're just looking for background pertinent to the plays, you might want to try something like Easterling's Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Another good reference is Taplin's Literature in the Greek World.

[Zeruiah]

Oedipus Rex would make a great starting point for Greek drama. I don't know if I agree that it is inherently the most accessible play, but it is certainly the most widely read, so it will be easy to find background and interpretations for Oedipus Rex.

Drkshadow03 gave a fine "best of" list, but I don't think you should worry too much about which plays you should read. They are all short and they are all worthwhile, so you're not really going to go wrong. I'd just read the blurb in Wikipedia or the back of the book and read the plays that seem interesting. Here's a thread about Greek tragedy in case you want more opinions from LitNetters.

I agree with Wilde woman that some familiarity with Greek mythology might be useful, but I would encourage you not to get too bogged down with background reading. I think the best introduction to a Greek tragedy is the play itself. They are generally pretty well self-contained, so a quick read of the introduction in most editions is usually enough to get started. If you find yourself interested enough to dig deeper, I actually think some knowledge of the history of 5th century Greece would be more beneficial than a general survey of mythology, especially for Aristophanes.

If you're not really interested in Ancient Greek history in general, and you're just looking for background pertinent to the plays, you might want to try something like Easterling's Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Another good reference is Taplin's Literature in the Greek World.

Thank you for the informative reply. I am actually very interested in Greek history and mythology, but I never quite knew how to start with such an autodidactic quest (also, the History of Ancient Europe class didn't get enough students, so I had to settle for History of the Americas) and, sadly, never got it started.

I don't mind jumping into these plays blindly for now and getting background information along the way. My reading is outpaced by a snail. If I just enjoy the Theban cycle for now and build up my Greek knowledge simultaneously, I'm sure that Aeschylus et al. will be easier to grasp.

[Oenomaus]

As far as Greek tragedy goes I would unhesitantly state that the three major masterpieces are Aeschylus' (or his son, Euphorion's) "Prometheus Bound," Sophocles' "Oedipus Tyrannus," and Euripides' "The Bacchae." I would probably recommend the David Greene translation for "Oedipus Tyrannus." Sophocles' language is very subtle and ambiguous, making it rather difficult to translate effectively. The Greene translation isn't great but it's considerably better than any of the other translations I've read. Let us know what you think of them. Along with Shakespeare there are no greater dramatists than these three. Aeschylus, to a large extent, focused on the gods while Sophocles was interested in the relationship between human beings and the gods (or "fate"), while Euripides was usually the most down-to-earth in his interests.

[Josh Wardrip]

For a brief, manageable list that will serve as a good introductory overview, I'd recommend:

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (indispensable; if you only read one Greek play in your life, it should be this one)
Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Euripides, Medea (if anything, to see what they mean by deus ex machina)
Aristophanes, Lysistrata (great comedy with plenty of bawdy double entendres)

[libernaut]

Prometheus Boundby Aeschelus