[.ca] The Complete Greek Tragedies, Volume 1: Aeschylus (ISBN 0226307646)

Tragedies:
This book contains all seven of Aeschylus' remaining plays. "Agamemnon," "The Libation Bearers," and "The Eumenides," (altogether, the Oresteia) are the most well-known, and, along with "Prometheus Bound," they are the best plays in this collection. The other three, in comparison, are frankly boring, so it might be worth your money to buy the Oresteia separately. But if you are curious about Aeschylus, or interested in Greek tragedy, then this book gives you all seven plays, and has introductions to each which explain the historical context and the content. Read your Homer too.

LAttimores Masterpiece of translation of Aeschlyus:
This edition is the materworks of two great men Aeschylus and Richmond Lattimore. I have read a dozen of translations of Aeschylus and this has no rival. As well the whole series edited by Green and Lattimore are the best compelation of all the Greek tragedy to date. Lattimore understand the darkness and the fatilism of greek tragedy. The verse translation is flowing and rythmic as the greek is. The translation is loose and not exacting like Lattimores Illiad but he captures the theme better than a too literal translation would allow.

Important in History, Literature and Anthropology:
Physically, this is a nice book. It's volume one of a four volume collection, _The Complete Greek Tragedies_ (volume two is Sophocles and volumes three and four are Euripides), and all four volumes are lovely hardcovers, printed on nice paper, with handsome Greekish designs on the front and interspersed throughout. Maybe not so attractive as to go on your mantel, but their prominence in your library will not be an embarassment. The contents are lovely to match. The translations (by Lattimore, Grene and Bernadete) are readable and flowing. The book has almost no footnotes (only Grene's translations of "Seven Against Thebes" and "Prometheus Bound" have any at all, and there they are sparse), but each play (or collection of plays, in the case of the Oresteia) is introduced by a brief explanatory essay. If you know nothing about the Greeks or Greek tragedy, these essays will not be enough to get you through (and you should check out Rose's _Handbook of Greek Literature_), but if you have a little background information already, the essays are helpful (especially the introductory essay to the Oresteia, which is the most fulsome). Now, about the plays themselves. Of course, you have to read them. This is, effectively, the beginning of Western drama, and the combination of familiar and alien elements is fascinating. In some ways, Aeschylus's plays are like modern musicals, or like opera, with very few characters, a big role played by a chorus, and lots of long songs. Action happens all off-stage and is described by the characters. In addition to being important as part of the history of drama, the plays are important primary sources of Greek mythology. In particular, the Oresteia is simply the most complete telling of the murder of Agammemnon and his children's revenge. In addition, "Prometheus Bound" is an important source for understanding the tale of the West's most famous fire-thief, and "Seven Against Thebes" gives detail and perspective about the tragedy of Oedipus not contained in Sophocles's retelling. Finally, being the most ancient of the tragedians, Aeschylus gives narrative details that reflect a very ancient Greek culture, including, for instance, his ideas about justice and family and several descriptions of rites of aversion. Aeschylus is important -- read him.

Hard Initially, but Excellent:
Lattimore's translation, I will admit, is difficult to get into at first if you are not familiar with his style or with the Greek classics in general. I remember sitting with it in front of me, trying for about 45 minutes to get past the first page. But please, don't be scared! Once you get past the initial difficulty and really start to immerse yourself into Lattimore's style, this is probably the most rewarding and interesting translations available. It keeps the Greek alive, displaying beautifully the particulars of the original text. An excellent and literal translation.