Review (PDF) The Bacchae Of Euripides
From the renowned contemporary American poet C. K. Williams comes this fluent and accessible version of the great tragedy by Euripides. This book includes an introduction by Martha Nussbaum.
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 7/24/90 edition (August 23, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374522065
ISBN-13: 978-0374522063
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #214,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #130 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Dramas & Plays > Ancient & Classical #198 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Ancient & Classical #234 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Medieval
While I haven't read much Greek tragedy, and this is my first Euripides play, the Bacchae is the most aweful I've yet to read. The fury of a god spurned by his family and city had me entranced in awe. I still can't quite understand it. I just had to be still and let its terrible beauty wash over me -- to experience it. I imagine that the audience at its first performance was full of fear and trembling.These feelings of attraction and revulsion seem appropriate for a god like Dionysus, a god who seems to embrace opposites. The surging, green life of the vine which dies and is cut back, only to send forth green shoots of new life. The joys of his revels which can slip into madness. . .The danger and messiness of life. While you don't neccessarily have to embrace this verity, it must be acknowledged or you will slip into madness and death. These are the gifts of the god to those who deny him."Then, at last,he'll know; Dionysus is a god.Dionysus is the son of Zeus.Doinysus is, for humans, fiercest and most sweet."After this declamation the god leaves the stage and the chorus expands upon it in some of the most beautiful and appealing language I've encountered in Greek tragedy:"On, will I, some-time, in the all-night dances, danceagain, bare-foot, rapt,again, inBacchus,again?
Bacchae and Other Plays: Iphigenia among the Taurians; Bacchae; Iphigenia at Aulis; Rhesus (Oxford World's Classics) Euripides V: Bacchae, Iphigenia in Aulis, The Cyclops, Rhesus (The Complete Greek Tragedies) The Bacchae of Euripides Euripides: Medea, Hippolytus, Heracles, Bacchae Euripides V: Electra, The Phoenician Women, The Bacchae (The Complete Greek Tragedies) (Vol 5) Bacchae Bacchae (Dover Thrift Editions) The Bacchae and Other Plays Publisher: Penguin Classics; Revised edition Euripides I: Alcestis, Medea, The Children of Heracles, Hippolytus (The Complete Greek Tragedies) Greek Tragedies 1: Aeschylus: Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound; Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Antigone; Euripides: Hippolytus Euripides I: Alcestis, The Medea, The Heracleidae, Hippolytus (The Complete Greek Tragedies) (Vol 3) Ten Plays by Euripides Greek Tragedies, Volume 2 The Libation Bearers (Aeschylus), Electra (Sophocles), Iphigenia in Tauris, Electra, & The Trojan Women (Euripides) An Oresteia: Agamemnon by Aiskhylos; Elektra by Sophokles; Orestes by Euripides Euripides III: Heracles, The Trojan Women, Iphigenia among the Taurians, Ion (The Complete Greek Tragedies) Euripides and the Gods (Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture)
