Bacchae by Euripides

Bacchae by Euripides

An English translation of Euripides' tragedy based on the mythological story of King Pentheus of Thebes and his fateful encounter with the god DIonysus. Includes an introductory essay, extensive notes, appendices on lacuna, a geneological chart of the gods, and an essay by Valerie M. Warrior: The Roman Bid to Control Bacchic Worship. The Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture and the roots of contemprary thought.

Euripides: - Euripides (484-406 BC) was a Greek dramatist. The last major tragic playwright of the classical world, he has also been called the first modern. Euripides was not highly successful in his lifetime, winning the first of only five victories at the Dionysia at the age of 43. By the end of the 19th century, however, Euripides was the most acclaimed Greek playwright. And, when the Royal Shakespeare Company presented a ten-play cycle The Greeks in 1980, seven of the works were by Euripides. Only 17 of his 92 plays survive. These include Medea, The Bacchae and Electra. Euripides's innovations included the deus ex machina and the formal prologue. He used simple everyday language, bringing a new realism to the stage. Although contemporaries accused him of killing tragedy, he humanized drama by adding elements of sentiment, romance, and even comedy. He was the first to argue against the social inferiority of women, and the first to show women in love. He was also the first to explore such subjects as madness and repression. A recluse, he shunned Athenian civil and social affairs, and in later life would sit all day in a cave on Salamis overlooking the sea as he contemplated and wrote something great and high. In 408 BC Euripides was exiled for his unorthodox views to Macedonia, where he died less than two years later. According to tradition, when the Spartans arrived to burn Athens, they desisted after a reminder that this was Euripides's city.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780941051422
ISBN 10	0941051420
Title	Bacchae
Author	Euripides
Series	Focus Classical Library
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Focus Publishing/R Pullins & Co
Year published	1998-01-01
Number of pages	134
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.