Medea and Other Plays

Oct 22, 2024 11:04 AM

Author:Euripides,Richard Rutherford,John Davie

Alcestis/Medea/The Children of Heracles/Hippolytus

'One of the best prose translations of Euripides I have seen' Robert Fagles

This selection of plays shows Euripides transforming the titanic figures of Greek myths into recognizable, fallible human beings. Medea, in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking of all the Greek tragedies. Medea is a towering figure who demonstrates Euripides' unusual willingness to give voice to a woman's case. Alcestis is based on a magical myth in which Death is overcome, and The Children of Heracles examines conflict between might and right, while Hippolytus deals with self-destructive integrity.

Translated by JOHN DAVIE

Reviews

Strikingly assured... A writer of unexpected sensibilities and uncompromising originality

—— Guardian

Cold Water is a thrilling pleasure... I don't think I've read such a good début in years

—— Alan Warner

Vivid and stylish and endlessly, surprisingly filled with perfect, unexpected images... a beautifully written book, utterly original and the most exciting thing to have been published this year... Fantastic

—— Big Issue

A truly original new voice in fiction. Her bleakly poetic first novel has an atmosphere all of its own: melancholy and profound yet shot through with the urgency of life and love

—— Shena Mackay

was hard to put down. Love, idealism, corruption and insanity in the Danish court of the Enlightenment: the world he draws is so complete, it s a very absorbing read.

—— Rachel Seiffert, Daily Telegraph

One of the most unusual and powerful fictional works of modern times.

—— New York Newsday

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