The Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides Book

44. Iphigeneia in Tauris by Euripides, translated by Richmond Lattimore
with editor's foreward by William Arrowsmith
first performed: circa ~412 bce
translation 1973
format: 90 page hardcover
acquired: borrowed from library
read: July 16
rating: 4 stars

The library said that because of a hold it was due in only two weeks, instead of the usual six. So, I decided to read it right away.

This was a nice change from Euripides earlier plays. This play has a more dynamic feel. Prolonged brooding or angry monologues are reduced, and a lot of fast paced and very entertaining dialogue is added in, lightening the whole play. There are curiosities, like a shepherd's description of Orestes getting hounded by Fates, which the shepherd can't see. This is a tragicomedy, and there is a surprising scent of charm here, even if the end seems to fall apart.

As for the plot, Iphigeneia survived being sacrificed to Atremis, rescued by the goddess herself. She now runs a barbaric temple for the goddess in the Black Sea, in Tauris where Atremis is worshiped under a different name. This community visited, in secret, by her brother Orestes, hounded by the Fates for killing his mother. Neither suspects the other to be there, especially as Orestes knows Iphigeneia has long been dead.