Electra / Edition 1

by Sophocles

Overview

This is an English translation of Sophocles’ tragedy of Electra, and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother and step father for the murder of their father. This edition also includes an "afterlife" essay that discusses adaptations of the play, as well as touches on other ways Electra has had influence (Jung's identification of the Electra Complex, O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra"). Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585102815
Publisher:	Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2008
Series:	Focus Classical Library
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Hanna Roisman is the Francis F. Bartlett and Ruth K. Bartlett Professor of Classics at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Her special interests are Homeric epic, Greek and Roman tragedy and Classical literature and modern film.

Editorial Reviews

Roisman's book can serve as a very useful introduction for a newcomer to Classics and Greek tragedy and is well suited for a non-language student without ancient Greek. Also a beginning ancient Greek language student will find Roisman's translation helpful in many instances for working through Sophocles' original because of the faithfulness of her translation. . . .

- Elke Steinmeyer, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.04.34

From the Publisher

Every era needs the classics on its own terms, so Sophocles' Electra, translated by Anne Carson (The Beauty of the Husband; Forecasts, Dec. 18, 2000), should prove very popular among newcomers and seasoned readers of the sublime dramatist's brutal drama, as well as among Carson's many fans. While Carson renders the book in her signature free verse, her major innovation is the phonetic preservation of Electra's "far from formulaic" screams: "OIMOI," "O TALAINA" and "PHEU PHEU" among them. As Carson writes in her excellent translator's preface, they are not stock ejaculations like "Alas!" or "Woe is me!," but "bones of sound" emitted by the daughter who finds herself cheering her mother's execution. Though Oxford's stock existentialist cover looks like something from the height of '50s abstract angst and the book's paper is pulpy, expect strong sales. ( Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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