Volume I, Cyclops. Alcestis. Medea (Loeb Classical Library), Vol. 1 Book

It is interesting to note the huge part that women play in Greek tragedies, be it as a curse to man (Medea to Jason), as a partner in life and in death (Alcestis to Admetus) or as a silent, sexual object useful merely for man's instant gratification (the 'Cyclops').

1)'Cyclops':

"Neptune's one eyed sons, the man-slaying Cyclopes"

This is said to be the only complete example of a 'Satyr play', usually the fourth play of a tragic tetralogy. As I was not certain of the nature of a satyr play, I am glad that I gave Euripides' 'Cyclops' a try. It does contain, being a satyr play, some vulgar references (of Helen wanting to be kidnapped and raped) by the satyr characters and even a crude, homosexual one that is unsurprisingly left out of many critical observations. As for the humour, here is an example, like when the Cyclops says to the satyrs:

"I wouldn't think of it (eating the satyrs), you would be the death of me with your dance steps, leaping around my belly."
I was recently watching an episode of the famous TV series 'Adventure Time' in which a troll ate some 'dancing bears', who irritated him with their constant partying inside his belly.

The Cyclops referred to in this play is no other than Polyphemus, being immortalized in the 'Percy Jackson series', which in the film at least (for I have not read the book), 'The Sea of Monsters', featured Polyphemus as a half-blinded cyclops (who was so blinded, as we know after reading this play, by Odysseus) in possession of the Golden Fleece (I though that the Golden Fleece cured everything, including death?).

Odysseus displays a certain civilized morality in this satyr play, which significantly contrasts sharply with the Satyr's treachery, cowardice, irrationality and fondness for excess, basically all the world that was not Greek at the time (which the Greeks justly considered barbarous). A worthwhile read.

~4.25/5

2)'Alcestis':

"Some other woman will possess you, luckier perhaps, but not more virtuous"..."the noblest woman by far under the sun"

Apollo and Death personified, light and darkness, heaven and the underworld, good and evil, life and death. These are few of the parallels that this play constantly makes. One should be aware that these themes featured in Christianity from times immemorial (which I hope we all know dates back centuries before Christ Himself, especially when one considers the old testament).

Alcestis is the ideal wife, symbolical in the ancient world of the power of love. Alcestis' and Admetus' mutual love for each is inspiring, and which relevantly transcends death itself! Alcestis' virtue(s), accepting sacrificing her own life in her husband's place, is rewarded by resurrection by Herakles, who single-handedly brought her back from the dead and acts as a substitute for the gods of Greek mythology.

However, Admetus' love is also tested before he regains Alcestis. He promised her while she was still in the land of the living that he will remain faithful (by an oath of fidelity on his part) in respect of her noble name. Herakles does not reveal that the woman he has brought back from the dead to be Alcestis immediately, rather he claims that it is some other woman which he had won as a prize in a sporting competition (!). However, Admetus nobly rejects the 'stranger', which ironically turns out to be his wife Alcestis.

I believe that Euripides wanted to defy man's conception of woman as a curse on his sexual freedom or as a prize for his manly attributes. Admetus boldly claims:

"Truly such a woman, living with me my whole life, would bring me no grief"

Man should be, and ought to be, responsible for his own actions and not blame women as the cause of his many temptations. True love is very hard to find, one might search all his life and tragically never finds it, but it still exists, however endangered it may be.

~4.5/5

3)'Medea':

Jason, in the Medea, argues that women are a burden, or a curse, to mankind and he wishes that there could be a way to beget children without women (he did not oppose the chance to beget children from the royal princess though). In Christianity it was Eve who tempted Adam to their downfall from grace and exile from the Garden of Eden, although according to the same belief both were equally guilty in the eyes of God.

Therefore, do not ask the insipid question of who was right or wrong, Jason in abandoning Medea in favour of another woman or Medea in her 'violent and passionate tendencies'. That is not the point. It is relevant to notice how the Greeks viewed marriage, men and women but that is about it. Greek tragedy traditionally gives a chance for both parties to present their cases, but what is relevant is what the audience gets out of the whole situation. Euripides did a great job out of that, he was never afraid to question tradition, myths and convention, in some plays more than others.

In the 'Tragicometer', this play is 9/11 tragic. It cannot get any worse for the parties concerned (Jason and Medea), what they have left is literally their own lives and even then it is no better than a life-in-death situation. Divorce should not be a common occurrence, as the consequences are too many to predict, it also means endangering the lives of innocent people (some distraught spouses have a tendency to murder the other's lover or children), in what are popularly known as 'crimes of passion'. For Euripides, what is tragic is humanity's reluctance to reconcile and bury the hatchet. Let bygones be bygones, in this shadow of a life (his own expression) it is better to accept life as it is and move on, and adapt in the best possible manner to life's unpredictable circumstances.

~4.5/5
Overall 5/5, plays that deserve to be studied, read and enjoyed.