Orestes
By Euripides
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
Euripides
Euripides was a tragedian of classical Athens. He was born on Salamis Island around 480 BC to his mother, Cleito, and father, Mnesarchus, a retailer who lived in a village near Athens. He had two disastrous marriages, and both his wives—Melite and Choerine (the latter bearing him three sons)—were unfaithful. He became a recluse, making a home for himself in a cave on Salamis. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. He became, in the Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education. The details of his death are uncertain.
Read more from Euripides
Greek Tragedies III: Aeschylus: The Eumenides; Sophocles: Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus; Euripides: The Bacchae, Alcestis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alcestis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yale Required Reading - Collected Works (Vol. 1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bacchae Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Phœnician Virgins (Phoenician Virgins): (The Phoenician Women) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iphigenia in Aulis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trojan Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trojan women of Euripides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medea of Euripides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bacchae and Other Plays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medea (NHB Classic Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Electra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHecuba Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ten Plays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medea and Other Plays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yale Classics (Vol. 1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ten Tragedies of Euripides Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra and Other Plays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trojan Women Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIphigenia in Tauris Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Helen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Orestes
Related ebooks
Hecuba Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Andromache: "The wavering mind is but a base possession" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHippolytus: (Hippolytos Stephanophoros) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Furies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trojan Women and Hippolytus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Pioneers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Notes From The Underground (Translated): A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld Classics Library: Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories from the Ancient Greece Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the Seven Against Thebes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen in Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter-Swarm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iphigenia in Tauris Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Picture of Dorian Gray Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIphigenia in Aulis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Shorts: An Ancient World Romance Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWaiting for Odysseus Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The World of Ovid's Metamorphoses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Ass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTroy: Heirs of Immortality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Frogs and Other Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIlion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Biggest Poutine in the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man in the Iron Mask: The True Story of Europe's Most Famous Prisoner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHenry V Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bacchae Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouse of Ash Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Theban Plays: "Oedipus the Tyrant"; "Oedipus at Colonus"; "Antigone" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
General Fiction For You
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebecca Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Black Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Orestes
27 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My tepid rating of this play is due in part to the translation by Theodore Buckley (this is the most commonly available one in the public domain) & partly due to Euripides' writing. I read this as part of the Kindle omnibus, "The Tragedies Of Euripides Volume 1" and also listened along to the Librivox recording.While the plot of this play includes a considerable amount of bloody action, it almost all takes place off stage. This is basically a "talking" play -- the various characters tell each other about the action rather than portray it. Because of this, the late Victorian style of Buckley's translation has a large impact on the effect of the play on the reader. I found that in some passages, I was drifting off even as murder and revenge were being discussed. I would recommend anyone considering this play to seek out a more modern translation. The plot itself is quite interesting, dealing with fate & punishment, revenge & murder.
Book preview
Orestes - Euripides
Orestes
by Euripides
literally translated or revised
by
theodore alois buckley,
of christ church.
Wilder Publications
Copyright © 2014 Wilder Publications
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-63384-605-0
Orestes
Persons Represented
Electra
Helen
Hermione
Chorus
Orestes
Menelaus
Tyndarus
Pylades
A Phrygian
Apollo
The Argument
Orestes, in revenge for the murder of his father, took off Ægisthus and Clyætmnestra; but having dared to slay his mother, he was instantly punished for it by being afflicted with madness. But on Tyndarus, the father of her who was slain, laying an accusation against him, the Argives were about to give a public decision on this question, What ought he, who has dared this impious deed, to suffer?
By chance Menelaus, having returned from his wanderings, sent in Helen indeed by night, but himself came by day, and being entreated by Orestes to aid him, he rather feared Tyndarus the accuser: but when the speeches came to be spoken among the populace, the multitude were stirred up to kill Orestes. But Pylades, his friend, accompanying him, counseled him first to take revenge on Menelaus by killing Helen. As they were going on this project, they were disappointed of their hope by the Gods snatching away Helen from them. But Electra delivered up Hermione, when she made her appearance, into their hands, and they were about to kill her. When Menelaus came, and saw himself bereft by them at once of his wife and child, he endeavored to storm the palace; but they, anticipating his purpose, threatened to set it on fire. Apollo, however, having appeared, said that he had conducted Helen to the Gods, and commanded Orestes to take Hermione to wife, and Electra to dwell with Pylades, and, after that he was purified of the murder, to reign over Argos.
The scene of the piece is laid at Argos; But the chorus consists of Argive women, intimate associates of Electra, who also come on inquiring about the calamity of Orestes. The play has a catastrophe rather suited to comedy. The opening scene of the play is thus arranged. Orestes is discovered before the palace of Agamemnon, fatigued, and, on account of his madness, lying on a couch on which Electra is sitting by him at his feet. A difficulty has been started, why does not she sit at his head? for thus would she seem to watch more tenderly over her brother, if she sat nearer him. The poet, it is answered, seems to have made this arrangement on account of the Chorus; for Orestes, who had but just then and with difficulty gotten to sleep, would have been awakened, if the women that constituted the Chorus had stood nearer to him. It is probable then that the above is the reason of this arrangement.
The play is among the most celebrated on the stage, but infamous in its morals; for, with the exception of Pylades, all the characters are bad persons.
ELECTRA.
There is no word so dreadful to relate, nor suffering, nor heaven-inflicted calamity, the burden of which human nature may not be compelled to bear. For Tantalus, the blest, (and I am not reproaching his fortune, when I say this,) the son of Jupiter, as they report, trembling at the rock which impends over his head, hangs in the air, and suffers this punishment, as they say indeed, because, although being a man, yet having the honor of a table in common with the Gods upon equal terms, he possessed an ungovernable tongue, a most disgraceful malady. He begat Pelops, and from him sprung Atreus, for whom the Goddess having carded the wool spun the thread of contention, and doomed him to make war on Thyestes his relation; (why must I commemorate things unspeakable?) But Atreus then killed his children—and feasted him. But from Atreus, for I pass over in silence the misfortunes which intervened, sprung Agamemnon, the illustrious, (if he was indeed illustrious,) and Menelaus; their mother Aërope of Crete. But Menelaus indeed marries Helen, the hated of the Gods, but King Agamemnon obtained Clytæmnestra’s bed, memorable throughout the Grecians: from whom we virgins were born, three from one mother; Chrysothemis, and Iphigenia, and myself Electra; and Orestes the male part of the family, from a most unholy mother, who slew her husband, having covered him around with an inextricable robe; the reason however it is not decorous in a virgin to tell; I leave this undeclared for men to consider as they will. But why indeed must I accuse the injustice of Phœbus? Yet persuaded he Orestes to kill that mother that brought him forth, a deed which gained not a good report from all men. But nevertheless he did slay her, as he would not be disobedient to the God. I also took a share in the murder, but such as a woman ought to take. As did Pylades also who