The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (Modern Library Classics)

This volume of Greek Plays has me blown away. Before each play there is a page or two detailing the contents and themes of the play, (spoilers aplenty during those prefaces so beware) and a section dedicated to the playwright’s life and to the impact his plays had on the world during the time in which he produced them, alongside with a few illustrations. And if that wasn’t enough, they supply you with footnotes alongside your reading to help guide you along the way in case you get stuck once an unfamiliar word creeps up. Sixteen plays reside in this volume which were manufactured by the three most important Greek playwrights of their time, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides are in this volume, as well as Prometheus Bound. Sophocles’ Antigone, Electra and his two Oedipus plays are in here as well, finished off by Euripides’ Medea, The Bacchae, Hippolytus and Trojan women. The paper feels good, the cover is soft and the translations are modern but powerful, retaining the poetic flair that the plays are famous for while remaining accessible to the modern day reader. If I had to nitpick for any negatives, I’d say that this volume’s size is bigger than I anticipated. I have to sit up and read which may not be a problem for many of you out there, but I like to lie down as I read so this posed a challenge which I hadn’t anticipated but it was one that I easily conquered. You definitely can’t read this in any position you desire, so bear that in mind. The last thing I could see someone having a negative view of are the copious amount of footnotes. Now as I’ve previously stated, I am a fan of the footnotes, but I could easily see someone being bogged down by the sheer volume of footnotes that one may begin to believe their interpretations of the play are been swayed by the footnotes as opposed to their own genuine interpretation. All in all a great edition that is also very beginner friendly so if you’re interested in The Greek Plays but don’t know where to start, I recommend purchasing this volume as you get the most bang for your buck.

Over the years, I have read several different translations of these classical Greek plays. I've read all the plays in this book and it contains the best translations I've seen. I'll cite three aspects of this excellent text. First, the translations themselves. Older works typically try to restate the original Greek poetry as English poetry, which forces too many uncomfortable phrasings. The plays in this book do not attempt to "re-poetize" the original Greek, but instead give the reader a clear, modern English rendition of the original text. Second, the text of each play is accompanied by numerous footnotes, explaining references that are frequently obscure to modern readers. Footnotes in the Kindle edition are very easy to read, as they are shown as simple popups. In the paper editions, the footnotes appear at the bottom of each page. Third, each play is preceded by an excellent introduction. My only wish is that the book contained more than sixteen plays. The comedies of Aristophanes, for example, are not included in this edition. The actual selection, however, is excellent.

Marvelous scholarship, modern translation, background and commentary adds to the experience. For me, this book makes these plays readable and enjoyable. Highly recommend.

Haven’t read the text yet or gone through the material — I couldn’t find any info on WHICH plays were collected for this publishing, so I bought it to post on here. They are as follows and pictured from contents: By Aeschylus: Persians, Agamemnon, Location bearers, Eumenides, Prometheus bound By Sophocles: Oedipus the king, Antigone, Electra, Oedipus at colonus By Euripides: Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Electra, Trojan women, Helen, Bacchae

Everything about the choices of translation is thoroughly explained. The poetry was a bit lost in some of the plays, if one was to compare it with older translations. So for if one is looking to create ancient theatre scenes, some other translations could work better.

Authors and plays are well introduced, footnotes are helpful; a balance between giving background and being concise that works well for someone who is already familiar with Greek myths but not with Greek theater.

Well not a book reader, but needed this for a class. Good quality material. Lots of content in the book. Difficult language use, but a given with old Greek literature. A bunch of short stories, so if you are into that go ahead

Exactly as described

Really excellent translations with a top-notch introduction to each play.

Binding breaks on first read

There must have been some mistake. I received one copy shortly after ordering, and a second one several weeks after. There would have been no disadvantage to me except that I had to pay custom fees of 7.28 EUR for the second copy! So the price of this book ended up significantly higher than I should have paid for it, since the second copy is of absolutely no use to me. The copies themselves are fine, with some minor imperfections. The book itself seems like a very valuable, organised and satisfying selection of the greek plays.

Great value, nice typesetting, good translations.

I would assume that most people looking at this book would be familiar with the Greek tragedies, the playwrights and some of the context to the world of the Ancient Greeks and the associated mythology. For these people, as the blurb describes, having a collection of these plays together, with the new translations and perspectives, is going to be both useful and exciting. However, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to absolutely anyone with a passion for reading, even if you have no familiarity with the Greek plays. It is absolutely fantastic! I can say this because, before reading this book, my knowledge of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides was, shamefully, just a vague awareness of their existence. The introductions to the plays are superbly written and in just a few pages manage to explain the background and context to each play (each playwright references Greek customs, older myths and mirror contemporary affairs) and also set out a brief synopsis to the play which makes it so much more accessible to the novice. Not only that, but there are numerous footnotes throughout each play in the difficult sections, explaining some of the untranslatable words, the character's actions and references they make and pointing out any dubious lines that may have been added later. It may seem a daunting or intimidating subject (I bought it half expecting to not be able to complete it) but it is one of the easiest, most intelligible and fascinating books I have had the chance to read and if you have any curiosity at all for the Ancient Greeks, mythology, history in general or the human condition, I would urge you to read it too! I have used Amazon for years and this book inspired me to write my first review.