The Fall of the House of Atreus
Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis and Aeschylus' the Oresteia Trilogy
Oberon Books Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 25. March 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-78319-096-6 (ISBN)
Description
Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis revolves around King Agamemnon of Argos, the commander in chief of the Greek army, and his decision to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the goddess Artemis and allow his troops to set sail to preserve their honour in battle against Troy. Aeschylus' Oresteia continues the story of this myth over three plays: Agamemnon, Libation Bearers and Eumenides. In Agamemnon, the title hero comes home victorious after 10 years of warfare at Troy, only to be killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Jumping forward in time, Libation Bearers shows Agamemnon's son, Orestes, returning home as an adult and avenging his father by killing his mother. At the beginning of Eumenides we find Orestes, desperate to shed the Furies, the primordial avenging spirits chasing him, in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. A newly established civic court in Athens judges his case, Athena casts her vote in his favour and so ends the cycle of blood revenge. An adaptation of Iphigenia in Aulis, which resolves the problematic ending is included in the Appendix.
Aeschylus' Oresteia was first produced at the Athenian festival of Dionysus in 458 BC, where it won first prize. The first production of Iphigenia in Aulis in 405 BC also won the first place at the Dionysia.
Aeschylus' Oresteia was first produced at the Athenian festival of Dionysus in 458 BC, where it won first prize. The first production of Iphigenia in Aulis in 405 BC also won the first place at the Dionysia.
Reviews / Votes
Having scrutinized Andy's versions of The Oresteia, I am happy to say that they are the best I have seen so far - and in two decades of teaching Greek tragedy and working with directors I have seen many. Not only are they eminently stageable, they also truly 'get' the complex nuances and imagery of the Greek text. Dr Martine Cuypers, Trinity College, Dublin I have read Andy Hinds' versions of The Oresteia, and I was greatly impressed with both. His versions of the texts are remarkable for their clarity and beautiful poetry while none of the complexities or themes from the original ancient Greek text have been lost. Beautifully written; a very difficult thing to do with such a dense text. Mairead McGrath - Oresteia specialist, Trinity College, Dublin 'It isn't often that one Greek tragedy leaves you hungry for another. But Classic Stage Ireland's production of Agamemnon does exactly that. Hinds' new adaptation is naturalistic, crystal clear, yet full of an almost Elizabethan richness of poetic imagery.' John McKeown - Irish IndependentMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
359 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78319-096-6 (9781783190966)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Derry-born Andy Hinds has, for many years, been a respected theatre director, playwright and acting teacher. He is currently Artistic Director of Classic Stage Ireland. Recent CSI productions have been Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Euripides' The Bacchae and Iphigenia in Aulis, and Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well, Julius Caesar and The Winter's Tale - all at Dublin's Project Arts Centre. Andy has had many successful theatre and opera productions over the years with all the main theatre companies in Ireland (Druid, Abbey, Gate, Lyric, Red Kettle, Charabanc, Wexford Opera). When working in England Andy has been Associate Director of the Bristol Old Vic, directed with the main English repertory and London Fringe theatre companies, and directed with Glyndebourne and Scottish Opera. He also had an ongoing association with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London where for many years he taught acting and directed their classic productions. In Dublin he has specialised in the training of young and experienced actors in the performing of classical texts (at The Gaiety School, Trinity College, and with the Classic Stage Ireland Acting Studio). He has lectured for a number of years on classic European Theatre at the Drama Studies Centre at UCD and recently conducted a series of Masterclasses in 'Acting Shakespeare' at Shakespeare's Globe in London. His three stage plays, October Song, The Starving and Crystal's House have had successful productions in England and Ireland and the first two are published by Carysfort Press. His radio play, The First of the Day was broadcast earlier this year on RTE Radio 1. A trilogy of his one-act plays (under the title Blood Ties) will be produced at The New Theatre in December 2012. Dr. Martine Cuypers studied Classics in the Netherlands and Germany (Ph.D. 1997) and worked as a lecturer and research fellow in Hamburg, Leiden, Groningen, Chicago and Washington D.C. before joining the School of Histories and Humanities at Trinity College Dublin in 2005. In Trinity College she lectures in Greek literature, language and history as well as the postgraduate programmes in Literary Translation and Comparative Literature. Martine's publications include the survey work A Companion to Hellenistic Literature (Wiley-Blackwell 2010, with Jim Clauss), the collection Beginning from Apollo (2005) and a translation of Lucian's True Stories (1999). She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Greek drama since 1994 and worked with theatre companies in Germany, the Netherlands, the USA and Ireland, most recently as a consultant on the Classic Stage Ireland productions of Euripides' Bacchae, Sophocles' Oedipus, Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis and Aeschylus' Agamemnon. http://www.tcd.ie/Classics/staff/cuypersm.php