Poetry Aeschylus: The Oresteia. v1, 27 Mar 2017

[AlexBell]

Aeschylus (525-455 BC) was one of the most famous Greek dramatists, and was said by Aristotle to be the first to have more than one character on stage as well as the chorus. The Oresteia was produced in 458 BC.

This 21st century verse translation of the three plays in The Oresteia was done by Emeritus Professor Ian Johnston of Vancouver Island University, British Columbia, Canada. He retains the copyright, and has given permission to use his text in this ebook. Prof. Johnston has provided stage directions for the three plays, (in italics) and footnotes for the first two plays.

The first play tells of Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter Iphigeneia to induce Artemis to grant favourable winds for the invasion of Troy, and his murder by his wife Clytaemnestra when he returns to Argos after the fall of Troy. The second play tells of the murder of Clytaemnestra by their son Orestes when he returns from exile. The third play tells of Oreste's flight to Athens pursued and tormented by the Furies, and the intervention of Athena who arranges his trial and provides a new role for the Furies.

The text for this ebook was taken from the online version on Prof. Johnston's website, and checked against the print version. I have omitted line numbers, made slight changes to layout, and provided endnotes for the third play. The cover illustration is taken from Wikisource.

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[crich70]

I beat you by a few yrs Alex. Click Though I grant you that I used an older translation than the one you had access to.

[AlexBell]

Yes, I know. I think the 21st century translation is a lot better.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Yes, I know. I think the 21st century translation is a lot better.

Probably it is a more advanced translation. Certainly modern day understanding of ancient Greece has to be somewhat better than that of the past.