Book Description
This book develops an authentic and at the same time revolutionary musical analysis of ancient Greek poetry. It departs from the abstract metrical analyses of the past in that it conceives the rhythmic and harmonic elements of poetry as integral to the whole expression, and decisive in the interpretation of its meaning. David offers a thoroughgoing treatment of Homeric poetics: here some remarkable discoveries in the harmonic movement of epic verse, when combined with some neglected facts about the origin of the hexameter in a 'dance of the Muses', lead to essential new thinking about the genesis and the form of Homeric poetry. He also gives a foretaste of the fruits to be harvested in lyric by a musical analysis, which applies a new theory of the Greek tonic accent and considers concretely the role of dance in performance. ... Read more

Book Description
Valued for their sensual and social intensity, Greek dance-events are often also problematical for participants, giving rise to struggles over position, prestige, and reputation. Here Jane Cowan explores how the politics of gender is articulated through the body at these culturally central yet until now ethnographically neglected celebrations in a class-divided northern Greek town. Portraying the dance-event as both a highly-structured and dynamic social arena, she approaches the human body not only as a sign to be deciphered but as a site of experience and an agent of practice.

In describing the multiple ideologies of person, gender, and community that townspeople embody and explore as they dance, Cowan presents three different settings: the traditional wedding procession, the "Europeanized" formal evening dance of local civic associations, and the private party. She examines the practices of eating, drinking, talking, gifting, and dancing, and the verbal discourse through which celebrants make sense of each other's actions. Paying particular attention to points of tension and moments of misunderstanding, she analyzes in what ways these social situations pose different problems for men and women. ... Read more

Book Description
The fragmentary plays of Euripides are a body of texts still regularly increasing in number and extent. They are of very great interest in themselves, apart from the significant aid they give to the fuller appreciation of the surviving complete plays. This volume contains: Alexandros (together with Palamedes and Sisyphus), Oedipus, Andromeda, Antiope, Hypsipyle, Archelaus (415 to about 407 B.C.). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More Amazonian bungling!
Yet again the folks at Amazon have bungled matters.The other "review" of this book is in fact a review of (or a puff for) the Penn series of translations of Greek tragedy, not of Euripides' "Selected Fragmentary Plays," a scholarly edition offering Greek texts, English translations, and detailed notes on several of Euripides' fragmentary plays.It should also noted that the book in question is the recently published---and long-awaited---second volume of a work whose first volume appeared in 1995.Eventually, there will be a Loeb Classical Library edition of the major fragments of Euripides, but it is unlikely to replace these volumes of Collard et al., for their very full notes will remain invaluable.

a return to classics
I went to Columbia, with the most prominent 'great books' curriculum still in existence. 25 years later, I'm finding myself re-reading and discussing many of the titles. The Penn Greek Drama series is a handsome library of new translations that give fresh takes on the classics. It's useful to have Euripides on the shelf when you return home from the recent bravura performance by Fiona Shaw as Medea--it settled an argument too on how it 'originally' ended. ... Read more

Book Description
Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama aims to eliminate the boundary between classics students and drama students. Sophocles: Ajax is aimed at college level students in North America. Features of the book include full commentary running alongside the translation, notes on pronunciation and a plot synopsis. Background information is also provided, along with suggestions to encourage discussion.Download Description
Athena 'twas I Restrained Him, Casting On His Eyes O'ermastering Notions Of That Baneful Ecstasy, That Turned His Rage On Flocks And Mingled Droves Of Booty Yet Unshared, Guarded By Herdsmen. Then Plunging Amid The Thronging Horns He Slew. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Mighty Destroy Themselves
The Classics are not so-called because they are old, but because they are most worthy.Plays by Sophocles survive today because they have spoken to every generation between his time and ours."Ajax" tells the story of one of the great heroes of the Trojan War and how he destroyed himself through his own overweening pride.Hubris remains very much an issue among the powerful today.Ajax's inability to accept that Odysseus could be awarded the armor of Achilles instead of him, Ajax's rationalization that Odysseus could only achieve such an award by scheming against him, and Ajax's unwillingness to admit his mistakes to his superiors, all seem like things that only someone totally foolish would do.Yet the world's political and economic landscape today is littered with leaders and businessmen who are jealous, paranoid, dishonest, and unwilling to admit failure.

There is real drama in reading this play, it does not feel stale or antique but rather resonates and makes the reader want to join the chorus in admonishing Ajax to do the right thing.Sophocles also gives us an engaging depiction of Odysseus.Odysseus shows the reader how to win graciously, lobbying for an honorable burial for a bitter adversary, which he does because he must answer to the gods for his behavior at all times -- the very lesson that Ajax refused to learn.

I recommend this play unconditionally, it is something everyone should read.I do not highly recommend this particular edition, however (thus the 4 rather than 5 stars).The translation seems good and a lot of the notes add interesting information.But some of the marginal commentary consists of overly simplistic questions (e.g., "How does X make you feel?") that seem like they would insult almost anyone's intelligence and not be all that helpful as a teaching aide.I bought this edition because I wanted a slim volume that contained only this play, and it may yet be the best purchase for that purpose.Whether you buy this version or browse for another, read this play.

Sophocles makes his case for the burial of the hero Ajax
I have always thought of the character of Ajax from the Trojan War to be the prototype of the "dumb jock" stereotype. Next to Achilles he was the best of the Achean warriors, but Ajax was deeply flawed in that he was stubborn and egotistical. I think his intelligence is further called into question by the myth regarding his death, which is the subject of this play by Sophocles. After the death of Achilles it is decided his glorious armor, forged by Hephaestus, will be given to the worthiest of the chieftains. Ajax expects the prize to come to him, but instead the other chieftains vote to give it to "wily" Odysseus. The inference to be drawn is that craftiness and intelligence are to be prize more than brute strength, which is why I tend to identify Odysseus and Ajax with that distinction between brains and brawn. Enraged by this slight, Ajax decides to kill Odysseus and the other chieftains who have slighted him, but Athena clouds his sight and he thinks the camp's livestock are his intended victims. When he comes to his senses, butchering a sheep he thought was Odysseus, Ajax is humiliated to the point he chooses to kill himself. The climax of this play, the oldest of the seven surviving plays written by Sophocles, is not the suicide of Ajax but rather a debate amongst the Achean leaders as to whether or not Ajax should be buried.

The issue central to the play "Ajax" is whether the title character should or should not be considered a true hero by the Greek audience attending the play. Homer, of course, has nothing to say regarding Ajax's fate in the "Iliad," although in the "Odyssey" when Odysseus encounters the shade of Ajax, the dead hero refuses to speak and turns away. However, in his telling of the tale Sophocles adds an important element to the suicide of Ajax. In his first scene when he is discovered amongst the slaughtered livestock, Ajax realizes that his intentions were wrong and that what he has done will make him look ridiculous; he decides to kill himself, ignores the pleas of the chorus, says his farewells to his son and departs. However, in the next episode Ajax returns, apparently reconciled to life; instead of killing himself he will bury his unlucky sword and live a peaceful life. Then a messenger brings the warning of Calchas that Ajax must be kept out of the battle that day. The next thing we know Ajax is cursing the Atreidae and falling on his sword. The change is significant because it makes Ajax's suicide a more rational act. Instead of taking his life in the heat of his embarrassment over what he has done, Sophocles has the character changing his mind twice and ending his life in the grips of a cold hatred against the chieftains.

This sets the stage for the debate amongst the chieftains regarding the burial of Ajax. When Teucer wants to bury the body he is forbidden to do so by Menelaus, who calls Ajax his murderer, focusing on the intentions behind his rampage. Agamemnon also forbids the burial, making an impassioned argument for the rule of law and warning against the reliance of the army upon the strength of a single man, whether he be Ajax or Achilles. Ironically (and we surely expect no less from Sophocles), it is Odysseus who makes the argument in favor of burial. For Odysseus the good outweighs the bad and it is not right to do a man injury when he is dead. This argument certainly echoes the moral at the end of the "Iliad" with regards to way Achilles treats the corpse of Hector. Certainly Ajax was a arrogant brute, obsessed with self-glorification and unfeeling towards his family and people. But when the Trojan army almost succeeded in burning the Achean ships, it was Ajax who stemmed their attack. For Odysseus, and for Sophocles, it is clear that such a man deserves to be considered a hero and demands an appropriate burial. "Ajax" is a minor play by Sophocles, relative to what little has survived of his work, but it does speak to one of the playwright central themes, which is to find that which is heroic in a tragic situation. Having found that spark in the life of Ajax, Sophocles seeks to redeem the tragic figure in this play.

A study in pride.
This is probably the earliest extant play of Sophocles. Sophocles is the earliest known playwright to use painted scenery. He also decreased the importance of the chorus, added a third actor, and abandoned the trilogyformat (each play is complete by itself). Ajax is the classical Greektragedy about the downfall of a man who is sinned against and has a tragicflaw; in this case, insolence and pride. Ajax becomes enraged whenAchilles' armor is awarded to Odysseus instead of to him. Agamemnon andMenelaus also exhibit insolence when they refuse to bury Ajax after hissuicide. But, Odysseus changes their minds. This play is probably theearliest known example of a play containing a scene of violence on thestage instead of offstage. The play should be required reading of allserious students. ... Read more

Book Description
Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama aims to eliminate the boundary between classics students and drama students. Euripides: Bacchae is the second in the series, and is aimed at college level students in North America. Features of the book include full commentary running alongside the translation, notes on pronunciation and a plot synopsis. Background information is also provided, along with suggestions to encourage discussion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A note for a five-star book, Bacchae edited by E. R. Dodds
I doubt anyone will go so far as to shell out $65.00 and find out the hard way, but this spectacular book:

1986 2nd ed.
EnglishBook lix, 253 p. ; 19 cm.
Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press.
ISBN: 0198721250 (pbk.) 9780198721253 (pbk.)

contains in fact the Greek text, with apparatus, accompanied by this great scholar's introduction and line by line commentary. I have never seen a better commentary on a Greek tragedy, and in fact the work may be of some value to Greekless readers, but it is NOT the translation referred to by the other reviewers at this site.

The Greatest Play Extant!
Dionysos returns to the city of his birth, anxious for those honors which are due him.Pentheus, current ruler of Thebes and a cousin of our hero, doesn't accept him.Pentheus finds out he made a really bad mistake, when he ends up at the top of a pine tree!What more could you ask for?Euripides' masterpiece is a great as ever, and for the price it can't be beat.

Highest rating!

Modernized, but Helpful
This translation is more modernized, making for an easy read. The pages are set up with the translation on the right and explanations about concepts and themes on the left. The explanations are insightful and did benefit me. I would suggest this version for high school students or for leisure, but I suggest a more true to the text translation for higher education.

Down to Earth Cosmicness
After having my eyes opened by Willaims' translation, I decided to revisit Rudall's work. While Williams is poetic and prone to flights of fancy, Rudall is more down to earth, which is appropriate for a god like Dionysus.

Yes he is a god of frenzy, but he is also a god of dying. I think this is why dance is sacred to him. Dance feels gravity's pull, leaps against it, succumbs to it, and leaps yet again. Life that is tied to the earth tries to transcend it, and struggles until it falls exhausted to the ground, only to rise and struggle again. It ain't all about exaultation, but is also about falling down.

Williams' translation sometimes flies away like a flock of pretty birds. Rudall keeps pulling us back to earth, back to the mysteries, and helps us plumb the depths of this play's truths. He doesn't let a bunch of pretties get in the way. He makes sure we see Everything.

One of the best translations out there
I am a classical history major with a focus on poetry and drama. I have actually read Bacchae in Attic Greek and I have to say that I find this translation to be one of the most fluid and natural of any that I have ever read. I would highky recommend this to anyone looking for a well-written, very gory introduction to Greek theatre. This edition is also great for using as a script, wheras many translations are good only for reading. I just put up a production using this translation and my actors were very comfortable with the wonderful language Woodruff uses. ... Read more