Ten Plays by Euripides Book

A word about the translation: Paul Roche does a great job, with a few caveats. These translations seem to be made for stage productions of Euripides, so they tend to spell everything out. In some cases this is nice, like during scenes where the staging is crucial to understanding the action. In some cases, like when he completely makes up parts of a play that are missing, it can be bad. He notes when he thinks the play is not reputable or when he has to fill in the gaps, so I'm inclined to think he simply wanted to provide something for people putting these plays into production. Heed these warnings for maximum enjoyment: Don't read the introductions, which will spoil the plays on a first reading. You can also dispense with the stage directions at the beginning of scenes as they sometimes spoil what is about to happen, and the "setting" portion at the beginning of the play which is usually explained by the opening scene anyway. Otherwise you're good to go.

ADMETUS
Once upon a time, Admetus made a deal with Apollo. He wouldn't have to die if someone would agree to lay down their life instead. His parents (shockingly) do not take him up on this generous offer so he lets his wife bite the bullet for him instead, and then for the rest of the play mopes about how hard he has it. Got to say, I empathize with the parents here. I probably wouldn't die for such a selfish jerk either. The translator thinks Euripides is endorsing this kind of behavior but I don't see how Admetus complaining about how terrible it is now that he has to live alone and exclaiming "I wish I were dead!" is anything but massively ironic. A deeply ironic dark comedy- it had me laughing out loud at parts. 5/5

HIPPOLYTUS
Phaedra falls in love with her stepson (Hippolytus) because he's celibate for no apparent reason and that makes Aphrodite upset. Phaedra and her Nurse argue a little bit about what course of action is ethical in this situation, but I have to say that what Phaedra wound up doing was a hell of a lot more immoral than anything the Nurse suggests. If only they had bothered to listen to the Nurse at any point, things would've gone smoother. I guess the moral is "Don't be too hasty" but what I took away was "Don't piss off Aphrodite." 4/5

ION
I'm beginning to sense a suffering woman theme here. Apollo rapes a woman, she conceives a son named Ion and then Apollo decides to pull an ol' switcheroo on the mom who is now infertile. Not terribly divine of him. As Ion says, "If the day ever comes (I know the notion is absurd) when you gods must pay the price to human beings for all your rapings and whorings [Apollo] and Poseidon and, yes Zeus himself will bankrupt every temple to fit the bill." And after all his naughty behavior, Apollo doesn't even have the balls to show up in the play. Creusa, get that low down dog to pay child support! Euripides kind of backpedals in the end but I guess he didn't want to be too critical of all-powerful beings, particularly ones backed up by mob justice. 5/5

ELECTRA
Euripides tells the story of Orestes and Electra avenging their father who was murdered by their mother. The Libation Bearers was the weakest of the Oresteia, and this version of the story is improved. There's a cheeky bit in here where Euripides takes a shot at the idea of Electra identifying her brother by comparing hair and looking at footprints, so no doubt he read Aeschylus's version too. The view of feminine subservience isn't much better here, but at least it's less obnoxious. Euripides gets our sympathies more successfully on the side of the children of Agamemnon. The character of Electra in particular is beefed up, showing shades of Macbeth's wife half way through the play. The only confusing bit is when Euripides tries to shoehorn in a lesson about how wealth isn't everything… doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the play. 4/5

IPHIGENIA AT AULIS
This is the story of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia to gain favorable winds for Troy. This play doesn't mesh with the traditional portrait of these characters- it's kind of an iconoclastic interpretation. Agamemnon isn't a hyper-ambitious man willing to sacrifice his daughter for glory, he's kind of a bumbling figure boxed in to a bad situation. Odysseus is no longer a draft-dodger who pretended to be crazy to avoid going to Troy, now he's a blood thirsty demagogue. And so on. This origin of the Trojan War reminds me quite a bit of the rush to war in World War I. There's no one figure to pin the blame on- there's just a general war fever on the part of the public. The 'heroes' are just along for the ride. Iphigenia gains most of our sympathies- but not for the reasons you might think. The ending to this play is hilariously bad but Euripides didn't write it, so I'm going to cut him some slack on that one. 5/5

IPHIGENIA AMONG THE TAURIANS
If Euripides died after he wrote Iphigenia at Aulis, then how could he write this sequel? Well, he wrote this one first, as we can tell because things don't match up between the two plays at all. Iphigenia and Orestes meet up in some barbarian land but, tee hee, don't know they're related. Expect to wait until half way through the play before they figure that one out. At no part of this play does anything surprising or interesting happen. The end sucks too. The only lousy play of the bunch so far. 2/5

MEDEA
Do not believe the false advertising in the title. This is NOT a light hearted Tyler Perry comedy. I can empathize with Medea. If your husband cheated on you after you killed your family and betrayed your homeland to be with him, I can see how revenge might be the first thing on your mind. But it's not so far-fetched to say that some of her revenge is also for the insult to her pride- particularly after the line he gives saying cheating on her was for her benefit. She'll show Jason what it means to mess with Medea, even if she has to scheme and kill and cut off her own nose to do it. Just how far did I say I empathized with Medea again? 5/5

BACCHUS
Bacchus is the new kid on the block- the god of wine and revelry trying to get widespread acceptance. You would think if anything, people would be thrilled to have a god of partying. But no, some people like repressed ol' king Pentheus are just a bunch of meanies who want to bring everyone down. This type of divine party-pooping is called "hubris" and as we all know, the gods have a talent for punishing this sort of thing. Tiresias has the right idea- you've got to cut loose and act a fool every once in a while or you'll wind up half crazy running around the woods in women's clothes. And that won't even be the worst of it. When God says party, you party- or else. 4/5

TROJAN WOMEN
After the war in Troy ended, all that was left was to split the spoils of war. This included slaves, like Hecuba, the former queen of Troy, whom Trojan Women follows. This play is an utterly devastating indictment of war. In the introduction, it is clear the gods aren't satisfied with the bloodletting at Troy and plan for more slaughter. Hecuba is forced to endure the destruction of all she loves- her children taken from her, her country enslaved, her home burned to the ground, her faith in the gods shattered, and the woman responsible for it all goes unpunished. Do the dead have it any better? Not by a long shot. Cassandra points out that though the war is over the Greeks have hardly won a happy fate. The Greeks have won back Helen, whom they hate, and have paid the price of countless casualties and years of hardship away from their homes. On the way back to Greece many more will die in storms, Agamemnon will be murdered, and Odysseus will endure another ten years of tribulation. The most nihilistic play I have ever read. 5/5

CYCLOPS
This irreverent play is a humorous interpretation of Odysseus' encounter with the Cyclops. It's crude, rude and pretty funny. It reminds me of Looney Tunes, if Looney Tunes didn't shy away from jokes about getting drunk and having sex. Silenus plays Bugs Bunny, and Odysseus is the straight man.
4/5