Alcestis/Medea/The Children of Heracles/Hippolytus
Translated by John Davie with an Introduction and Notes by Richard Rutherford.
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Jul 28, 2011
q
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Jul 12, 2009
El
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I picked this book of plays by Euripides primarily for Medea, so that will earn the brunt of my review.
Medea is one kick-ass, crazy bitch. Period. Having read Jason and the Golden Fleece and thoroughly enjoyed it I was excited to read more about Medea, particularly her story after helping Jason find the Golden Fleece. Talk about one spurned lover! After Jason leaves Medea for a Greek princess, Medea goes a little bye-bye and decides the best way for her to express her distaste i More...
Medea is one kick-ass, crazy bitch. Period. Having read Jason and the Golden Fleece and thoroughly enjoyed it I was excited to read more about Medea, particularly her story after helping Jason find the Golden Fleece. Talk about one spurned lover! After Jason leaves Medea for a Greek princess, Medea goes a little bye-bye and decides the best way for her to express her distaste i More...
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Oct 24, 2011
Duy
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Euripides is one of the three greatest tragedy writers of classical Greek, a genre full of drama and suffering by the tragic hero. With Medea being one of his best works, Euripides rewrote the myth of Jason, Medea and the Golden Fleece by providing a few new twists, especially near the end of the story. The story takes place in ancient Greece in Corinth, where Jason, perhaps, for his future, married the princess. Medea later found out about the affair, became uncontrollable, and began her w
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Jun 17, 2011
Kelli
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I was lucky enough to play the part of Mdea in my colleage production of this play - as well as using one of her monlologues against Jason as one of my exam pieces - the story , despite its age is so poignant and tragic - with mirrors in modern day culture which perhaps we would rather not see, A woman who gives up everything - murders her wn father and other family members to stay with the man she loves - gives himt he power to win his altermate goal ( the golden fleece ) and ultimatley marries
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Jun 18, 2011
Bree
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Medea is the story of Medea, wife to Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts, Jason and the Golden Fleece) etc. Medea aided Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece, falling passionately in love with him and even killing her brother and (reputedly) dismembering his body so that they could flee her father who, being a good and just father, stopped to pick up the pieces of his son. Medea is generally regarded as a very intense, passionate woman. She’s the granddaughter of the Sun God Helios and therefor
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Nov 12, 2009
Ashawntyp
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First of all it was a screen play. it was tasteful but it personaly did not like it. medea was a scorn woman that wanted revenge. she tried to hurt her soon to be ex husband for getting remarried. but she ended up hurting herself in the end. she killed her sons and spread misery. all of this just to hurt her husband, but in the end she got hurt herself. because revenge is not all cracked up to be as people think. she ended up alone and lose her husband. what i learned is that revenge is best do
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Jan 07, 2011
Meghan
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HELEN
In every other Greek play, Helen is portrayed as a slut, a hussy, a mindless bimbo who uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants from men. The particularly amusing scene from the Trojan Women comes to mind when Menelaos is warned by Hecabe not to see Helen. Hecabe tells him once he lays eyes on her breasts all sense will leave him and he will take her back. This exactly happens within the next moments of the play. But in this play Helen is a virtuous woman, innocent of all the insu More...
In every other Greek play, Helen is portrayed as a slut, a hussy, a mindless bimbo who uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants from men. The particularly amusing scene from the Trojan Women comes to mind when Menelaos is warned by Hecabe not to see Helen. Hecabe tells him once he lays eyes on her breasts all sense will leave him and he will take her back. This exactly happens within the next moments of the play. But in this play Helen is a virtuous woman, innocent of all the insu More...
Sep 13, 2008
Melissa
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Feb 19, 2008
Kaya
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I only read the intro and 'Medea' and not the 'Other Plays.' This Penguin Classics edition is neat because there are detailed notes throughout the play (noted at the back) explaining all sorts of stuff: how the tragedy would've been presented on stage back then, the backstory of the mythology behind it all, the critical reactions to certain passages throughout history, etc. There is ALSO a glossary at the back that explains the whos, whats and wheres of all proper nouns listed throughout the p
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Jul 28, 2011
Ted
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euripides is, of course, wonderful, and the four plays in this volume ("hippolyta," "electra," and "helen" are included as well) are all lovely--but the translation and the edition are horrid. i know nothing about translating from ancient greek into english, but i do know good english when i read it, and there's little to be found here. james morwood's prose translation is filled with tired phrasing and cliches, which drag down the dynamic subject matter. worse are
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Jun 11, 2010
Krisette
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I find it shocking that I enjoyed these plays as much as I did. I've never been a big fan of tragedies, but these were so beautifully written, I couldn't help myself. It was helpful that I had read The Voyage of the Argo, which gives the background of Jason and Medea's story.
Feb 25, 2010
Glorious.Clio
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Oh, Medea, I grieve for you!!
I love Medea. She's a bit extreme... but her husband was divorcing her to marry a young hot princess. She didn't exactly have a lot of options.
I love Medea. She's a bit extreme... but her husband was divorcing her to marry a young hot princess. She didn't exactly have a lot of options.
Aug 16, 2011
Joy-Aisling
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The translation is more than just 'good', but considerably more clumsy than I expected for such a lauded edition.
Nov 23, 2011
Kourtney
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I had already read Medea & Hippolytus, but The Children of Heracles was sort of similar to Suppliant Women.
Dec 01, 2011
Andrew
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Just finished this after reading Aeschylus' "Medea." Euripides definitely has the better version.
May 10, 2011
Huma
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I read this in high school and kind of enjoyed it. The Oresteia is better though. :P
Feb 08, 2012
Furball
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Jul 28, 2011
David
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Never wrong a woman, especially one from noble birth who was captured and dragged off by Jason ( of the Argonauts) to a foreign land. Beware of your childn Jason! Great story.
Dec 06, 2011
Amanda
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All these tragedies are really interesting... but they are all also very predictable. That's the only problem I feel when I read them, but the language is awfully wonderful. It's broken down old english and we'll never see it again, least it's in print.
Jul 28, 2011
Graham
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I liked MEDEA. I found it a bit dated but then you would, it's a text from Ancient Greece after all. It seems necessarily dramatic in detailing the tragedy that unfolds and makes for gripping reading at the climax. But I found it a bit... simple. The narrative is straightforward and there isn't much richness to be found here. Centuries of disaster, death and war have lessened the impact of the tragedy leaving this a readable oddity.
Sep 12, 2011
Storm
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It should have continued more. There was too much more for the story to suddenly end.
Dec 31, 2007
K
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so completely amazing. I never liked the film versions so much. i read (very dramatically)a long selection for my forensics class which the football players in the class totally enjoyed (not so much). Just a scary and indomitable character in lit. A Woman Scorned. Thanks Yanzek!
Jul 28, 2011
Sebas
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This book contains 4 plays, but I have only read Medea.
Medea is a nice greek tragedy. I recommend it if you like to read plays, or if you like all this greek stuff. As it is quite old, it is sometimes tough to understand what is happening, but it isnt hard to get it in the end.
Medea is a nice greek tragedy. I recommend it if you like to read plays, or if you like all this greek stuff. As it is quite old, it is sometimes tough to understand what is happening, but it isnt hard to get it in the end.
