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Electra
Locked into a bloody cycle of murder and reprisal, Electra, haunted by her father's assassination, is consumed by grief and a thirst for vengeance. When her brother Orestes at last returns, she urges him to a savage and terrifying conclusion.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 411
126 people are currently reading
8,933 people want to read
About the author
Sophocles
2,269?books2,511?followersSophocles (497/496 BC-406/405 BC), (Greek:
¦²¦Ï¦Õ¦Ï¦Ê¦Ë??
; German:
Sophokles
, Russian:
§³§à§æ§à§Ü§Ý
, French:
Sophocle
) was an ancient Greek tragedian, known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, Women of Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost fifty years, Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens which took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in thirty competitions, won twenty-four, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won thirteen competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles; Euripides won four.
The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, though each was part of a different tetralogy (the other members of which are now lost). Sophocles influenced the development of drama, most importantly by adding a third actor (attributed to Sophocles by Aristotle; to Aeschylus by Themistius), thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights.
The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, though each was part of a different tetralogy (the other members of which are now lost). Sophocles influenced the development of drama, most importantly by adding a third actor (attributed to Sophocles by Aristotle; to Aeschylus by Themistius), thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights.
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November 13, 2021
?¦Ë?¦Ê¦Ó¦Ñ¦Á = Electra, Sophocles
Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes (409 BC) and the Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC) lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.
Electra's parents were King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. Her sisters were Iphigeneia and Chrysothemis, and her brother was Orestes. In the Iliad, Homer is understood to be referring to Electra in mentioning "Laodice" as a daughter of Agamemnon.
Electra was absent from Mycenae when her father, King Agamemnon, returned from the Trojan War.
When he came back, he brought with him his war prize, the Trojan princess Cassandra, who had already borne him twin sons. Upon their arrival, Agamemnon and Cassandra were murdered, by either Clytemnestra herself, her lover Aegisthus or both.
Clytemnestra had held a grudge against her husband for agreeing to sacrifice their eldest daughter, Iphigenia, to Artemis so he could send his ships to fight in the Trojan war.
In some versions of this story, Iphigenia was saved by the goddess at the last moment.
Eight years later, Electra returned home from Athens at the same time as her brother, Orestes. Orestes was saved either by his old nurse or by Electra, and was taken to Phanote on Mount Parnassus, where King Strophius took charge of him.
When Orestes was twenty, the Oracle of Delphi ordered him to return home and avenge his father's death. ....
????? ?????? ?????: ??????? ??? ?????? ???1973??????
?????: ??????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ? ?????? ???????: ?????? (???????)? ?????: ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ??????? ???1335? ??297?? ??? ??? ???1366? ????? ????????? ????????? ??????? ????? - ??? 5??? ?? ?????
?????????? ?? ???? ??????410??? ?? ?????? ??409??? ?? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ? ?????? ?????? ???? ????????? ? ?????? ????????? ?? ??????? ??????????????? ? ?????????? ??? ??????????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?????????? ??? ? ????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ??????? ???????? ?????? ????
????? ?? ?????????? ??? ???????? ? ?????? ??? ???????? ?? ??? ?????? ??????? ? ???? ???????? (?????? ??????????)? ? ?? ???? ??? ????????????? ?? ??? ????? ???????? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ?????? ????????????? ???? ????? ??????????? ???? ??????? ????????? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ????????? ? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ? ????? ???? ?? ?????????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ???????? ? ?????? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ???????????? ??? ?????? ??? ???????- ???? ????? ???????? ?? ??? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???????? ?????? ????????? ??? ???????? ?? ???????? ?? ??? ??????????? ???? ?? ??????????? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ??????? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ??
??? ??????? ??????????? ???????? ???? ???????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ????????? ?? ????? ?? ?????????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ???????? ? ????????? ????????????? ? ????????? ?? (?? ??????? ??? ????????) ?????
??????????? ??? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ????? ??? ? ?????? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???????? ??????? ?? ????? ? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ????? ??????? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???? ????? ????? ???????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ?????? ??? ? ?? ?? ????? ????????? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ??????
?? ????? ?? ?????????? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??? ???????? ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ????? (?? ?????? ? ????? ??????) ????? ?? ? ?????? ??? ??????????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ????
????? ?????? ????? 20/09/1399???? ???????? 21/08/1400???? ???????? ?. ???????
Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes (409 BC) and the Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC) lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.
Electra's parents were King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. Her sisters were Iphigeneia and Chrysothemis, and her brother was Orestes. In the Iliad, Homer is understood to be referring to Electra in mentioning "Laodice" as a daughter of Agamemnon.
Electra was absent from Mycenae when her father, King Agamemnon, returned from the Trojan War.
When he came back, he brought with him his war prize, the Trojan princess Cassandra, who had already borne him twin sons. Upon their arrival, Agamemnon and Cassandra were murdered, by either Clytemnestra herself, her lover Aegisthus or both.
Clytemnestra had held a grudge against her husband for agreeing to sacrifice their eldest daughter, Iphigenia, to Artemis so he could send his ships to fight in the Trojan war.
In some versions of this story, Iphigenia was saved by the goddess at the last moment.
Eight years later, Electra returned home from Athens at the same time as her brother, Orestes. Orestes was saved either by his old nurse or by Electra, and was taken to Phanote on Mount Parnassus, where King Strophius took charge of him.
When Orestes was twenty, the Oracle of Delphi ordered him to return home and avenge his father's death. ....
????? ?????? ?????: ??????? ??? ?????? ???1973??????
?????: ??????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ? ?????? ???????: ?????? (???????)? ?????: ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ??????? ???1335? ??297?? ??? ??? ???1366? ????? ????????? ????????? ??????? ????? - ??? 5??? ?? ?????
?????????? ?? ???? ??????410??? ?? ?????? ??409??? ?? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ? ?????? ?????? ???? ????????? ? ?????? ????????? ?? ??????? ??????????????? ? ?????????? ??? ??????????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?????????? ??? ? ????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ??????? ???????? ?????? ????
????? ?? ?????????? ??? ???????? ? ?????? ??? ???????? ?? ??? ?????? ??????? ? ???? ???????? (?????? ??????????)? ? ?? ???? ??? ????????????? ?? ??? ????? ???????? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ?????? ????????????? ???? ????? ??????????? ???? ??????? ????????? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ????????? ? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ? ????? ???? ?? ?????????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ???????? ? ?????? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ???????????? ??? ?????? ??? ???????- ???? ????? ???????? ?? ??? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???????? ?????? ????????? ??? ???????? ?? ???????? ?? ??? ??????????? ???? ?? ??????????? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ??????? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ??
??? ??????? ??????????? ???????? ???? ???????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ????????? ?? ????? ?? ?????????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ???????? ? ????????? ????????????? ? ????????? ?? (?? ??????? ??? ????????) ?????
??????????? ??? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ????? ??? ? ?????? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???????? ??????? ?? ????? ? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ????? ??????? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???? ????? ????? ???????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ?????? ??? ? ?? ?? ????? ????????? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ??????
?? ????? ?? ?????????? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??? ???????? ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ????? (?? ?????? ? ????? ??????) ????? ?? ? ?????? ??? ??????????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ????
????? ?????? ????? 20/09/1399???? ???????? 21/08/1400???? ???????? ?. ???????
June 25, 2022
"I ask this one thing: let me go mad in my own way."
Electra
Queen Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murdered her husband, Agamemnon, on his return from the Trojan War. The murder was a revenge killing. Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia in exchange for his armies' passage to Troy. Their remaining children, Electra and Orestes, sought revenge for their father's death by killing their mother and her lover.
Sophocles' Electra is one of three dramatic interpretations of this myth. It is a character study that focuses on Electra's obsessive desire for revenge that consumes her into middle age. The play follows her brother Orestes' return from exile and her unambiguous goading that ended in the double murder.
I am taking a course in Greek tragedy and became intrigued by a lecture comparing the three great Greek tragedians' interpretations of this myth. I read Aeychelus' Libation Bearers before reading Sophocles' interpretation.
In Aeychelus, Electra is a secondary character. Sophocles' shift of focus forces the reader to examine Electra's inability to feel compassion for her mother or understand her brother's reluctance to kill her. The course professor, Elizabeth Vandiver, stated that Freud based the Electra complex upon Sophocles' rendition of the myth.
Thanks to OliverTaplin's excellent translation, Electra was an accessible and engaging read. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Classics or mythology in general.
Electra
Queen Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murdered her husband, Agamemnon, on his return from the Trojan War. The murder was a revenge killing. Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia in exchange for his armies' passage to Troy. Their remaining children, Electra and Orestes, sought revenge for their father's death by killing their mother and her lover.
Sophocles' Electra is one of three dramatic interpretations of this myth. It is a character study that focuses on Electra's obsessive desire for revenge that consumes her into middle age. The play follows her brother Orestes' return from exile and her unambiguous goading that ended in the double murder.
I am taking a course in Greek tragedy and became intrigued by a lecture comparing the three great Greek tragedians' interpretations of this myth. I read Aeychelus' Libation Bearers before reading Sophocles' interpretation.
In Aeychelus, Electra is a secondary character. Sophocles' shift of focus forces the reader to examine Electra's inability to feel compassion for her mother or understand her brother's reluctance to kill her. The course professor, Elizabeth Vandiver, stated that Freud based the Electra complex upon Sophocles' rendition of the myth.
Thanks to OliverTaplin's excellent translation, Electra was an accessible and engaging read. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Classics or mythology in general.
April 21, 2017
¡°Life can only be pain. Far better to die¡±
¡°Death is not the worst thing; rather, when one who craves death cannot attain even that wish.¡±
¡°Death is not the worst thing; rather, when one who craves death cannot attain even that wish.¡±
May 14, 2023
manifesting a mother-daughter relationship that looks NOTHING like Electra's relationship with Clytemnestra on this fine Mother's day <3
December 1, 2022
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March 28, 2023
I must admit I've enjoyed a number of these over-the-top ancient Greek tragedies. I took my time with this and Sophocles' Electra did not disappoint. I read the translation by Meineck & Woodruff that was very easy to read. There were some contemporary words/phrases that did seem to jump off the page as not consistent with the rest of the more measured dialogue. Not that Electra was measured by any stretch of the imagination. She has let her anger grow through the years until it has erupted like a volcano with a lava of rage & hatred that flows over her misery and grief in this play. It is a character study of a woman who is obsessed by her desire for revenge. A revenge that involves killing her mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover Aegisthus who killed her father. Sounds reasonable, right? Well wait right there. King Agamemnon (Electra's father) had one of his daughters killed as a sacrifice to the Gods to ensure fair winds as they sailed to Troy. I'd say Clytemnestra had a right to be plenty angry herself. While Agamemnon was off to war for such a long time, Clytemnestra took a lover. When Agamemnon returns from war he was murdered by the lovers. Electra refused to live in peace with them, unlike her sister, which has led to a life full of unfulfillment & misery. When we meet her in the play her long lamentations are full of her grief over her father's death many years ago, her miserable life, rage and unrelenting desire for revenge. She prays for her brother, Orestes, who she had sent away for safekeeping to return to their home and be the instrument of her revenge & murder her mother & her lover.
Some things I wondered about: I am not a student of ancient Greek plays but found the Chorus to move from debating with Electra over her behavior & plans to being full team Electra. I don't recall if that was always the Choruses purpose in these plays. I thought they normally provided background & insight into the main characters.
Is Clytemnestra villain or victim? For the most part we only get Electra's side of the story that she has been kept practically a slave by her. But if she raged against her mother from the beginning, maybe that is why her mother turned away from her.
Electra also has an encounter with her sister Chrysotemis, who is a passive foil to Electra's rants. You wonder what it was about these two sisters that made them respond to their circumstances so differently.
Lastly, Orestes. Why was he so ready to fulfill his sister's wishes? He was a young boy when taken away from his home. Did his tutor fill his head with stories of his "evil" mother and the need for revenge?
The revenge scene is quite chilling.
Some things I wondered about: I am not a student of ancient Greek plays but found the Chorus to move from debating with Electra over her behavior & plans to being full team Electra. I don't recall if that was always the Choruses purpose in these plays. I thought they normally provided background & insight into the main characters.
Is Clytemnestra villain or victim? For the most part we only get Electra's side of the story that she has been kept practically a slave by her. But if she raged against her mother from the beginning, maybe that is why her mother turned away from her.
Electra also has an encounter with her sister Chrysotemis, who is a passive foil to Electra's rants. You wonder what it was about these two sisters that made them respond to their circumstances so differently.
Lastly, Orestes. Why was he so ready to fulfill his sister's wishes? He was a young boy when taken away from his home. Did his tutor fill his head with stories of his "evil" mother and the need for revenge?
The revenge scene is quite chilling.
July 1, 2020
Electra is no Antigone.
Either in story or character. Electra has all of the anger, but none of the agency. Simply put, she waits for Orestes to act instead of taking it upon herself. To be fair, Antigone's brothers were dead so that wasn't an option for her, but as a role model of honor Antigone is the clear winner.
Both feature heroines, sisterly discourses on integrity versus following decree, and yet, Antigone appeals infinitely more to me. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of Agamemnon so his destruction never elicited empathy.
Either in story or character. Electra has all of the anger, but none of the agency. Simply put, she waits for Orestes to act instead of taking it upon herself. To be fair, Antigone's brothers were dead so that wasn't an option for her, but as a role model of honor Antigone is the clear winner.
Both feature heroines, sisterly discourses on integrity versus following decree, and yet, Antigone appeals infinitely more to me. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of Agamemnon so his destruction never elicited empathy.
July 18, 2013
Anne Carson begins her translator's foreword by saying, ¡°a translator is someone trying to get between a body and its shadow,¡± which is the best description I've ever heard of what it means to translate. Shadows are interesting things in folklore. To be separated from one's shadow is often a sentence to eternal soullessness, and that's exactly what too many translations do: divide the soul of a work from its body, condemning it to eternal indifference.
There is none of that here. Carson's language choices are sublime, electric. Yeah, yeah. I went there. Maybe I should have started by saying that Electra and I have never gotten along.
She's always been a difficult figure for me; I've never quite managed to like her. From the first time I encountered her in kiddie editions of Greek mythology, she grated. Finding her again in translation after translation didn't change that initial impression, though Eugene O'Neill and some of the less academic Aeschylus almost succeeded. I've spent most of my life rolling my eyes at poor Electra. She's even been a consistent, shrill presence on my list of most irritating characters, alongside King Lear and Victor Frankenstein.
And this is why Anne Carson's phenomenal translation has to be the focus of this review. Because of it, I can never find Electra annoying again. Her personal torment, which too often comes across as screechy and overwrought, is allowed the psychological complexity it likely always had. Electra listening to her mother's death is easily one of the most chilling scenes in drama, and I didn't recognize it as such until Anne Carson.
This is a beautiful translation. Read it, then read the excellent introduction by Michael Shaw and Carson's stellar foreword, then read the play again. Greek tragedy's shadow is rarely allowed to stay this close to its body.
In closing, here's one of the raddest things a chorus has ever said:
The curses are working
Under the ground
dead men are alive
with their black lips moving
black mouths sucking
on the soles of killers' feet
There is none of that here. Carson's language choices are sublime, electric. Yeah, yeah. I went there. Maybe I should have started by saying that Electra and I have never gotten along.
She's always been a difficult figure for me; I've never quite managed to like her. From the first time I encountered her in kiddie editions of Greek mythology, she grated. Finding her again in translation after translation didn't change that initial impression, though Eugene O'Neill and some of the less academic Aeschylus almost succeeded. I've spent most of my life rolling my eyes at poor Electra. She's even been a consistent, shrill presence on my list of most irritating characters, alongside King Lear and Victor Frankenstein.
And this is why Anne Carson's phenomenal translation has to be the focus of this review. Because of it, I can never find Electra annoying again. Her personal torment, which too often comes across as screechy and overwrought, is allowed the psychological complexity it likely always had. Electra listening to her mother's death is easily one of the most chilling scenes in drama, and I didn't recognize it as such until Anne Carson.
This is a beautiful translation. Read it, then read the excellent introduction by Michael Shaw and Carson's stellar foreword, then read the play again. Greek tragedy's shadow is rarely allowed to stay this close to its body.
In closing, here's one of the raddest things a chorus has ever said:
The curses are working
Under the ground
dead men are alive
with their black lips moving
black mouths sucking
on the soles of killers' feet
February 22, 2025
A play focussed on revenge while commenting on what justice means and the conscience demands. Violence begets violence in the royal family of Argos, facilitated by Apollo
And even if he had, taking your point, was that a reason to kill him?
What law says that? Take care if you¡¯re going to invent a law
which might backfire on you and cause you pain.
Take a life for a life, you¡¯d be the first to die under such a law.
I saw the production on London West End this winter, starring Brie Larson in the role of and as a play this clearly works better than just reading it.
The introduction this book gives in respect to Sophocles is interesting, him being the most successful of the three great playwrights (Euripides and Aeschylus being his contemporaries), writing over 120 plays.
Electra and Orestes are dedicated warriors and Sophocles wants them to be seen in that way, but clearly the play contemplates various perspectives on their matricide.
In the introduction it is already noted that: Sophoclean heroes and heroines are not likeable people in the ordinary sense of the word. One can admire them, but would hardly want to live with them. This certainly holds for Electra and Orestes in this play. Sophocles believed in law and order, and a justice from the gods, which man must strive to understand, because his gods do not make the task easy. The single-minded heroes and heroines seem to go too far in everything they do, violating the maxim on the temple at Delphi: ¡®Nothing in Excess¡¯. They can even bring down the innocent in defence of their principles, as did Antigone. But their greatness cannot be challenged.
This is very true and the by struggles with the same thing, coming up with the inelegant court case where a father's death is found more egregious than that of a daughter. lets the mother and daughter exchange arguments, but one can definitely sympathise with both Clytemnestra and Chysothemis their points of view.
Some quotes and observations:
Apollo the shit stirrer with his sending of dreams and saying to Orestes ¡°Use cunning¡±
The end justifies the means attitude by Orestes:
No lie is bad if it achieves its purpose, I think.
CHORUS
Your weeping is not going to bring back
Your father from the dead,
Nor will your prayers.
You are destroying yourself
With your immoderate and impossible grief,
Your endless moans.
Can¡¯t you see this will achieve nothing?
Why dedicate yourself to destruction?
You are not the only person to suffer, child.
Neither hate your enemies to excess,
Nor forget them.
Time heals everything.
Electra:
living with crime makes one a criminal.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Sister, what are you ranting about, out here in public again?
Haven¡¯t you learned your lesson by now?
Can¡¯t you see your anger gets you nowhere?
I know myself how I suffer and, had I the power,
I would let them know how I feel.
But in a storm, I prefer to lower my sails.
I¡¯d rather not be blamed for something
that achieves nothing.
I wish you felt the same.
I know that your way is better than mine,
but I value my freedom, so I submit
in everything to those that have the power.
Electra:
Make your choice: either be foolish, or be sensible
and betray those you love.
I¡¯d never give in to them, even if they offered me
all those things that delight you so.
You can have the rich food and a life of luxury.
A clear conscience is food enough for me.
Your ¡®honour¡¯ is not one I¡¯d like to share.
Neither would you, if you had any sense.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
What about the life you would be leaving here?
ELECTRA
What life? Is my life here so wonderful?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
It could be if only you¡¯d be sensible.
ELECTRA
Don¡¯t tell me to betray those I love.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
That¡¯s not what I¡¯m telling you; I¡¯m telling you to submit to authority.
ELECTRA
You do that; that¡¯s not my way.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
It¡¯s right not to destroy yourself through stupidity.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Being a mother is a strange thing;
no matter how badly they treat you,
you can¡¯t hate your children.
Chrysothemis:
We win nothing if we gain a fine reputation
and stupidly lose our lives in the process.
I¡¯ll pretend I never heard what you said,
And, while there¡¯s still time, you should learn:
when you have no power yourself, obey those who have.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
I don¡¯t despise you. I¡¯m trying to protect you.
ELECTRA
Am I to accept your definition of what is right?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Yes, if you¡¯re sensible. And then I¡¯ll go along with you.
ELECTRA
It is a terrible thing to speak well, but be wrong.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
That¡¯s exactly your problem.
ELECTRA
What do you mean? Do you deny what I say is right?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Sometimes being right can be dangerous.
Chorus:
Death is the debt that everyone must pay.
Orestes:
Every criminal should be punished by death
and without delay. Then we¡¯d have less crime
Orestes believing in crime and punishment style, while reclaiming the riches and powers of his father.
And even if he had, taking your point, was that a reason to kill him?
What law says that? Take care if you¡¯re going to invent a law
which might backfire on you and cause you pain.
Take a life for a life, you¡¯d be the first to die under such a law.
I saw the production on London West End this winter, starring Brie Larson in the role of and as a play this clearly works better than just reading it.
The introduction this book gives in respect to Sophocles is interesting, him being the most successful of the three great playwrights (Euripides and Aeschylus being his contemporaries), writing over 120 plays.
Electra and Orestes are dedicated warriors and Sophocles wants them to be seen in that way, but clearly the play contemplates various perspectives on their matricide.
In the introduction it is already noted that: Sophoclean heroes and heroines are not likeable people in the ordinary sense of the word. One can admire them, but would hardly want to live with them. This certainly holds for Electra and Orestes in this play. Sophocles believed in law and order, and a justice from the gods, which man must strive to understand, because his gods do not make the task easy. The single-minded heroes and heroines seem to go too far in everything they do, violating the maxim on the temple at Delphi: ¡®Nothing in Excess¡¯. They can even bring down the innocent in defence of their principles, as did Antigone. But their greatness cannot be challenged.
This is very true and the by struggles with the same thing, coming up with the inelegant court case where a father's death is found more egregious than that of a daughter. lets the mother and daughter exchange arguments, but one can definitely sympathise with both Clytemnestra and Chysothemis their points of view.
Some quotes and observations:
Apollo the shit stirrer with his sending of dreams and saying to Orestes ¡°Use cunning¡±
The end justifies the means attitude by Orestes:
No lie is bad if it achieves its purpose, I think.
CHORUS
Your weeping is not going to bring back
Your father from the dead,
Nor will your prayers.
You are destroying yourself
With your immoderate and impossible grief,
Your endless moans.
Can¡¯t you see this will achieve nothing?
Why dedicate yourself to destruction?
You are not the only person to suffer, child.
Neither hate your enemies to excess,
Nor forget them.
Time heals everything.
Electra:
living with crime makes one a criminal.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Sister, what are you ranting about, out here in public again?
Haven¡¯t you learned your lesson by now?
Can¡¯t you see your anger gets you nowhere?
I know myself how I suffer and, had I the power,
I would let them know how I feel.
But in a storm, I prefer to lower my sails.
I¡¯d rather not be blamed for something
that achieves nothing.
I wish you felt the same.
I know that your way is better than mine,
but I value my freedom, so I submit
in everything to those that have the power.
Electra:
Make your choice: either be foolish, or be sensible
and betray those you love.
I¡¯d never give in to them, even if they offered me
all those things that delight you so.
You can have the rich food and a life of luxury.
A clear conscience is food enough for me.
Your ¡®honour¡¯ is not one I¡¯d like to share.
Neither would you, if you had any sense.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
What about the life you would be leaving here?
ELECTRA
What life? Is my life here so wonderful?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
It could be if only you¡¯d be sensible.
ELECTRA
Don¡¯t tell me to betray those I love.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
That¡¯s not what I¡¯m telling you; I¡¯m telling you to submit to authority.
ELECTRA
You do that; that¡¯s not my way.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
It¡¯s right not to destroy yourself through stupidity.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Being a mother is a strange thing;
no matter how badly they treat you,
you can¡¯t hate your children.
Chrysothemis:
We win nothing if we gain a fine reputation
and stupidly lose our lives in the process.
I¡¯ll pretend I never heard what you said,
And, while there¡¯s still time, you should learn:
when you have no power yourself, obey those who have.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
I don¡¯t despise you. I¡¯m trying to protect you.
ELECTRA
Am I to accept your definition of what is right?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Yes, if you¡¯re sensible. And then I¡¯ll go along with you.
ELECTRA
It is a terrible thing to speak well, but be wrong.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
That¡¯s exactly your problem.
ELECTRA
What do you mean? Do you deny what I say is right?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Sometimes being right can be dangerous.
Chorus:
Death is the debt that everyone must pay.
Orestes:
Every criminal should be punished by death
and without delay. Then we¡¯d have less crime
Orestes believing in crime and punishment style, while reclaiming the riches and powers of his father.
January 18, 2020
Olaya bak. Bunun ¨¹z¨¹nt¨¹s¨¹ne dayanamayan Elektra'n?n dram?n? bu kitapta okuyoruz. Elektra ?yle bir kad?n ki bug¨¹n¨¹n psikoloji hastal???na ismini vermi? bir karakterdir. "Elektra Kompleksi" Ayn? ?ekilde Sophocles'in di?er eser karakterlerinden Oedipus i?inde ayn? durum ge?erli. Bu terimlerden olu?turulmu? kuramlar?n sahibi ise Freud.
January 9, 2018
While I loved the dialogue, the pacing of this Hamlet and Antigone caper was a bit rushed. The chorus was particularly effective, the atmosphere resonates with revenge. Electra pines but does not waste. Her timid sister cringes in comparison to this inferno of vengeance. Then suddenly she has a cohort and the circumstances of his arrival afford their nemesis interlopers opportunity to even further impugn their deeds¡ªor do they?
Aegisthus, what were you thinking? There is a nobility in the Divine. There¡¯s also Icarian agency. Think Cobain, ¡°Come back as Fire/Burn all the liars/Leave a blanket of ash on the ground. The plot was the only one pursued by three of the Greek masters (Euripides and Aeschylus being the other two) which invites comparisons, though apparently the chronology is regrettably unclear.
Aegisthus, what were you thinking? There is a nobility in the Divine. There¡¯s also Icarian agency. Think Cobain, ¡°Come back as Fire/Burn all the liars/Leave a blanket of ash on the ground. The plot was the only one pursued by three of the Greek masters (Euripides and Aeschylus being the other two) which invites comparisons, though apparently the chronology is regrettably unclear.
February 6, 2018
Bir?ok rahats?z edici hikaye bar?nd?rsa da bay?ld?m.
July 9, 2018
2.5/5
February 24, 2022
Ba? mi je Sofokle prijao! Mislim da je ovo najo?triji prikaz likova koje pratim jo? od Eshila. Ovde im se daje prava mera, aristotelovski re?eno; naravno, ovde ne govorim o meri izme?u dve krajnosti u smislu vrline, ali mislim da je izbegnuto Eshilovo ofrlje prikazivanje nekih junaka i Euripidovo karikiranje koje je oti?lo u drugu krajnost. Elektra se ovde pokazala u punom zamahu, ?to je i logi?no, ali su i drugi junaci bili izo?treniji u svojim namerama ( Klitemnestra koja je, generalno, lik koji se puno ne nadogra?uje, nije ovde dobila ne znam kakav prostor, ali mi se ?ini da je sa?eto uspela da izrazi ono ?to je u prethodnim tragedijama bilo malo razvodnjeno)
March 1, 2015
Sophocles' take on Orestes' revenge
21 March 2012
This is probably not my favourite Sophoclean play, but then again after reading the and discovering that Ajax demonstrates the classic symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), it is very hard to then jump into another play that pretty much has nothing to do with combat trauma. It is probably a good thing though because what it means is that we have a variety of plays to consider as opposed to a collection of plays that deal with trauma and its effects. However, that does not necessarily mean that we do not get into the mind of the characters in this play, it is just that we do not get into it the same way.
Electra is the only myth that we have that we have an extant play from all three playwrights, and the classical historians are delighted at that because we get to see how each of the three playwrights tackled the same story. That I must agree is quite helpful as it allows a much better way to compare and contrast the styles of the playwrights. However I have read them in a different order to which they were written: I read the Euripidean play first and I have yet to get onto the Aeschylian play.
We do notice a significant difference as we move from Aeschylus to Sophocles, and then notice a further shift when we get to Euripides. My belief is that the difference between Sophocles and Euripides is like the difference between Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorsesee in that Spielberg writes movies for the popular crowd while Scorsesee's movies tend to be a lot more thought provoking. This difference is quite noticeable in the Electra and it is these differences that we will explore here.
First of all, in the Sophoclean play, Electra is unmarried and Clytaemnestra plays a much bigger role. There is a lot of dialogue between the characters and Sophocles seems to rest a lot more on the dialogue between the characters than does Aeschylus, who tends to focus more on the background story. Here we have fully developed character interaction, and it is this interaction drives the story.
Euripides was concerned with the struggle between Orestes' need for vengeance and the fact that to get it involved killing his mother. We do not see any of that in the Sophoclean play. Sophocles is more concerned with seeing justice done and seeking justice for the murder of Agamemnon is of much greater importance than the question of whether it is right to murder one's mother to satisfy the blood guilt.
However, we seem to always think of Agamemnon as being the innocent party in all of this. We see it in Euripides and we see it here in Sophocles. What we don't see, and in a sense I don't think the Greeks saw it as well, is that Agamemnon was not a nice person. In a way there is little to no difference between Agamemnon and the Great King of Persia ¨C both had imperialist ambitions. The Greeks did see a difference - Agamemnon was Greek. So I guess his imperial ambitions were okay, whereas Xerxes was Persian and as such his imperial ambitions were bad (because it involved imposing them upon the Greeks).
As we have seen in some of the more modern renditions of the Trojan War (such as in the movie Troy), Agamemnon is not portrayed as a man jumping to his brother's aid when his honour has been insulted. Instead Agamemnon is using it as an excuse to extend his power beyond Greece and over to Asia Minor. In a way the Greeks have always considered that part of the world to be theirs, and maybe the victory at Troy gave them that excuse. However, like the foolish man in the Bible who gloated about his wealth and then had it taken away from him, Agamemnon never got to enjoy his new found empire. He was killed upon his return to Argos by his wife and her lover.
21 March 2012
This is probably not my favourite Sophoclean play, but then again after reading the and discovering that Ajax demonstrates the classic symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), it is very hard to then jump into another play that pretty much has nothing to do with combat trauma. It is probably a good thing though because what it means is that we have a variety of plays to consider as opposed to a collection of plays that deal with trauma and its effects. However, that does not necessarily mean that we do not get into the mind of the characters in this play, it is just that we do not get into it the same way.
Electra is the only myth that we have that we have an extant play from all three playwrights, and the classical historians are delighted at that because we get to see how each of the three playwrights tackled the same story. That I must agree is quite helpful as it allows a much better way to compare and contrast the styles of the playwrights. However I have read them in a different order to which they were written: I read the Euripidean play first and I have yet to get onto the Aeschylian play.
We do notice a significant difference as we move from Aeschylus to Sophocles, and then notice a further shift when we get to Euripides. My belief is that the difference between Sophocles and Euripides is like the difference between Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorsesee in that Spielberg writes movies for the popular crowd while Scorsesee's movies tend to be a lot more thought provoking. This difference is quite noticeable in the Electra and it is these differences that we will explore here.
First of all, in the Sophoclean play, Electra is unmarried and Clytaemnestra plays a much bigger role. There is a lot of dialogue between the characters and Sophocles seems to rest a lot more on the dialogue between the characters than does Aeschylus, who tends to focus more on the background story. Here we have fully developed character interaction, and it is this interaction drives the story.
Euripides was concerned with the struggle between Orestes' need for vengeance and the fact that to get it involved killing his mother. We do not see any of that in the Sophoclean play. Sophocles is more concerned with seeing justice done and seeking justice for the murder of Agamemnon is of much greater importance than the question of whether it is right to murder one's mother to satisfy the blood guilt.
However, we seem to always think of Agamemnon as being the innocent party in all of this. We see it in Euripides and we see it here in Sophocles. What we don't see, and in a sense I don't think the Greeks saw it as well, is that Agamemnon was not a nice person. In a way there is little to no difference between Agamemnon and the Great King of Persia ¨C both had imperialist ambitions. The Greeks did see a difference - Agamemnon was Greek. So I guess his imperial ambitions were okay, whereas Xerxes was Persian and as such his imperial ambitions were bad (because it involved imposing them upon the Greeks).
As we have seen in some of the more modern renditions of the Trojan War (such as in the movie Troy), Agamemnon is not portrayed as a man jumping to his brother's aid when his honour has been insulted. Instead Agamemnon is using it as an excuse to extend his power beyond Greece and over to Asia Minor. In a way the Greeks have always considered that part of the world to be theirs, and maybe the victory at Troy gave them that excuse. However, like the foolish man in the Bible who gloated about his wealth and then had it taken away from him, Agamemnon never got to enjoy his new found empire. He was killed upon his return to Argos by his wife and her lover.
August 15, 2022
It was Sophocles¡¯ Electra that Hofmannstahl chose to adapt for his play that later turned into the libretto for Richard Strauss¡¯ great opera. I was always curious why he turned to Sophocles, and not Euripides or Aeschylus, for Electra and it quickly became clear as I started reading it. For one, there are long sections of Electra¡¯s lamentations filled with such sorrow and rage that one feels the onstage presence of the timeless tragedienne (I could see how Strauss¡¯ chillingly angular music for his heroine comes from these original monologues that Hofmannstahl masterfully adapted.) There is also the clever introduction of a timid Chrysotemis, absent in the other two versions, as a foil to her tempestuous sister whose years of unrelenting grief for her father slain by her mother and her mother¡¯s lover left her scarred and on the brink of madness. Then Elektra¡¯s clashes with her mother Clytemnestra brought not only psychological tensions but also constantly switching moral arguments on the themes of vengeance, justice, and guilt. Finally there is Elektra and her brother Orestes, and their recognition scene upon his return from exile that was so moving in Sophocles that, in my reading, it was the emotional climax of the entire play.
Although no tragic event takes place (it happened with the murder of Agamemnon before the actions in the play start), it is clear that one is reading a tragedy. Its emotional core is in Elektra¡¯s suffering and misery, powerfully expressed in her long lamentations and fierce encounters with her mother and, at a different level, her sister. (Although inspired by Sophocle¡¯s version, the Hofmannstal-Strauss opera has a different ending .) This is not an exalted political or mythological presentation on a grand scale, rather an intense psychological domestic drama that can speak to a modern reader if in a good translation.
I read two translations, the classic from 1962 by Kitto (reissued in the with an excellent introduction by Edith Hall) and a more from 2001 by Anne Carson, a great contemporary poet who also happens to be a classicist. Although initially planned for stage performance, each is perfectly readable as a literary work. Kitto¡¯s is one of the rare attempts that tried to remain faithful to the poetic rhythm of the original play while not sounding archaic or sacrificing the content accuracy to the form. Carson, however, modernized it to such a great extent that it¡¯s bordering on adaptation with hardly any sense that the play originated in ancient Greece, except for an unusual decision to retain the moaning sounds in the original Greek which Carson explains in her introduction. I still find them distractingly at odds with the modernized language and contemporary colloquialisms in the rest of her translated text. Her semi-adaptation works well as a modern play but, if we think we are reading Sophocles (it¡¯s always a translator¡¯s Sophocles), then I would prefer at least some elements in either spirit or style of an ancient classic. And, in that sense, Kitto remarkably succeeds, easily an excellent choice if someone wants to read only one translation.
Kitto¡¯s translation 5 stars
Carson¡¯s translation 3.5 stars
Although no tragic event takes place (it happened with the murder of Agamemnon before the actions in the play start), it is clear that one is reading a tragedy. Its emotional core is in Elektra¡¯s suffering and misery, powerfully expressed in her long lamentations and fierce encounters with her mother and, at a different level, her sister. (Although inspired by Sophocle¡¯s version, the Hofmannstal-Strauss opera has a different ending .) This is not an exalted political or mythological presentation on a grand scale, rather an intense psychological domestic drama that can speak to a modern reader if in a good translation.
I read two translations, the classic from 1962 by Kitto (reissued in the with an excellent introduction by Edith Hall) and a more from 2001 by Anne Carson, a great contemporary poet who also happens to be a classicist. Although initially planned for stage performance, each is perfectly readable as a literary work. Kitto¡¯s is one of the rare attempts that tried to remain faithful to the poetic rhythm of the original play while not sounding archaic or sacrificing the content accuracy to the form. Carson, however, modernized it to such a great extent that it¡¯s bordering on adaptation with hardly any sense that the play originated in ancient Greece, except for an unusual decision to retain the moaning sounds in the original Greek which Carson explains in her introduction. I still find them distractingly at odds with the modernized language and contemporary colloquialisms in the rest of her translated text. Her semi-adaptation works well as a modern play but, if we think we are reading Sophocles (it¡¯s always a translator¡¯s Sophocles), then I would prefer at least some elements in either spirit or style of an ancient classic. And, in that sense, Kitto remarkably succeeds, easily an excellent choice if someone wants to read only one translation.
Kitto¡¯s translation 5 stars
Carson¡¯s translation 3.5 stars
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August 30, 2022????? ??????? ? ???? ?? ???? ???????. ???? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????
Read
November 10, 2019D?nemin rutin eserlerinden biraz farkl? buldum. Bol aksiyondan ziyade karakterin dram?n? anlatt???/payla?t???/susmadigi (Elektra, bir nefes al bac?m) aksiyonun sonlarda s?n?rl? kald??? bir oyun. Ama tabii yine klasik sophokles oyun ?rg¨¹s¨¹. Yava? yava? a??yor kendini g¨¹zelce.
Bu adam g¨¹n¨¹m¨¹zde iyi bir y?netmen olurdu gibi geliyor bana. Bir Fincher, bir Nolan. Kurgu i?inin hakk?n? fazlas?yla verirdi. Yazarl?k da cabas?. ??
Bu adam g¨¹n¨¹m¨¹zde iyi bir y?netmen olurdu gibi geliyor bana. Bir Fincher, bir Nolan. Kurgu i?inin hakk?n? fazlas?yla verirdi. Yazarl?k da cabas?. ??
May 18, 2018
Sophokles'in ?nceki tragedyalar?ndan farkl? olarak karakterin kendi ruhunda ya?ananlar? yard?mc? ama ana karakterlerle ortaya koyan "Elektra", Truva Sava?? d?n¨¹?¨¹ kar?s? taraf?ndan haz?rlanm?? korkun? bir komploya kurban giden Agamemnon'un intikam?n?n o?lu Orestes ve k?z? Elektra taraf?ndan al?n???n? i?liyor. "?lyada"dan sonra ge?en olay ?rg¨¹s¨¹yle "Odysseia" ile aras?nda k?pr¨¹ niteli?i ta??yan oyunda Elektra'n?n ?zellikle kendiyle olan diyaloglar? tek kelimeyle ?aheser. Sophokles'in en olgun ve en edebi eseri oldu?unu d¨¹?¨¹nd¨¹?¨¹m oyunun biti? ?ekli ise okuyucuda bu sefer al??agelmi?in d???nda hisler ya?at?yor.
08.08.2014
?stanbul, T¨¹rkiye
Alp Turgut
08.08.2014
?stanbul, T¨¹rkiye
Alp Turgut
November 3, 2024
This translation by Anne Carson gives this play by Sophocles a very modern feel with its conflict between sisters and mother and daughter. Here the women come to life and into their own as Anne Carson shows that how a Greek drama is still relevant today.
There¡¯s a lot that goes on here, and like Euripides¡¯s Electra, the mood could have very easily slipped into melodrama, instead it's handled beautifully. I¡¯ve read this before but I connected with this translation better (a big plus for me is the characters felt rounded) this added to my enjoyment as the tension (which in places is very unsettling and very violent) came in the twists and turns.
There¡¯s a lot that goes on here, and like Euripides¡¯s Electra, the mood could have very easily slipped into melodrama, instead it's handled beautifully. I¡¯ve read this before but I connected with this translation better (a big plus for me is the characters felt rounded) this added to my enjoyment as the tension (which in places is very unsettling and very violent) came in the twists and turns.
November 21, 2022
Electra, otra de las c¨¦lebres tragedias que nos ha legado S¨®focles, toma lugar tras el asesinato de Agamen¨®n a manos de su esposa, Clitemnestra, y el amante de ¨¦sta, Egisto. Muerto ya el gobernante, el reino pasa a ser regido por sus asesinos quienes viven absolutamente impunes tras el crimen cometido, gozando de cuanto placer pueda serles provisto.
La historia, adem¨¢s de antagonistas a los que es sencillo despreciar, nos ofrece h¨¦roes en la forma de Orestes y Electra, ambos hijos de Clitemnestra y Agamen¨®n que repudiando las acciones de su madre tratar¨¢n de hacer justicia por la memoria de su progenitor. Pero, si bien es Orestes el responsable de llevar a cabo el acto f¨ªsico de la venganza, es Electra quien le da t¨ªtulo a la obra y quien constituye su atractivo fundamental.
Mientras Orestes se halla en el exilio fraguando un plan, Electra se ve forzada a convivir con una madre a la que repudia en un v¨ªnculo lleno de desaprobaci¨®n y resentimiento que funciona en ambas v¨ªas. Sometida a los destratos de ¨¦sta y a tener que atestiguar c¨®mo el asesino de su padre ocupa ahora su lugar. Electra encarna la imagen misma de la desolaci¨®n, la p¨¦rdida y el hambre de justicia con una irrefrenable determinaci¨®n que contrasta con la tranquila resignaci¨®n de una de sus hermanas. Es un personaje que exuda fortaleza y complejidad emocional dotando de atractivo la historia aunque el final resulte tan abrupto.
La historia, adem¨¢s de antagonistas a los que es sencillo despreciar, nos ofrece h¨¦roes en la forma de Orestes y Electra, ambos hijos de Clitemnestra y Agamen¨®n que repudiando las acciones de su madre tratar¨¢n de hacer justicia por la memoria de su progenitor. Pero, si bien es Orestes el responsable de llevar a cabo el acto f¨ªsico de la venganza, es Electra quien le da t¨ªtulo a la obra y quien constituye su atractivo fundamental.
Mientras Orestes se halla en el exilio fraguando un plan, Electra se ve forzada a convivir con una madre a la que repudia en un v¨ªnculo lleno de desaprobaci¨®n y resentimiento que funciona en ambas v¨ªas. Sometida a los destratos de ¨¦sta y a tener que atestiguar c¨®mo el asesino de su padre ocupa ahora su lugar. Electra encarna la imagen misma de la desolaci¨®n, la p¨¦rdida y el hambre de justicia con una irrefrenable determinaci¨®n que contrasta con la tranquila resignaci¨®n de una de sus hermanas. Es un personaje que exuda fortaleza y complejidad emocional dotando de atractivo la historia aunque el final resulte tan abrupto.
July 19, 2015
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October 12, 2011
All right, all right, I didn't read this, but I did see it performed last night at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, and as good as the acting was, I realized scarcely five minutes in that Greek tragedy is not my cup of tea.
I kept wanting to scream at Electra -- "All right already, you're upset, your grieving, you're angry -- get on with it."
If the point of these Greek dramas was that everyone already knew the plot and you were supposed to be dazzled by the oratory, I wasn't. There are only so many ways to say that your mother killed your father and she's a witch, or that your stepfather is a greedy, grasping coward. And then we have our little misdirection when she thinks brother Orestes is dead, but in fact he's alive and ready for revenge. But the whole point of his "faked" death was so that mom and stepdad won't realize he's back and he'll be able to stealthily attack them, and yet there is no real attempt at stealth in the play, just some good old-fashioned gotcha.
I don't know, I'm either too modern or too unsophisticated to get why this is a classic, but meh, I don't.
March 22, 2023
????????? (????? ??????? ???? ?? ??????): ????? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ??? ? ??? ????? ?????? ? ????? ????? ????? ?? ????? ????? ?? ?? ???. ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ? ?? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ???????? ????? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ? ????? ??????.?
August 19, 2016
50. Electra by Sophocles, translated by Anne Carson
- introduction and notes by Michael Shaw
- editors¡¯ forward by Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro
first performed: c. 405 bce
translation 2001 (Anne's introduction comes from a 1993 lecture)
format: 130 page Oxford University Press paperback
acquired: borrowed from my library
read: Aug 11-15
rating: 4 stars
Just another Greek Tragedy, but this was different in presentation. Anne Carson's translation was excellent and brought alive the tension in Electra's language in the first key first parts of this play. And the two introductions, one by Shaw and the other by Carson, pick apart the play and it's structure, revealing a lot more of what is there.
The play itself is a tragedy with a "happy" ending. Electra is trapped, living with her mother and her mother's lover, she is in serious danger, and cannot marry and bear any children. She can only cooperate. But, her brother Orestes will rescue her by killing their own mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, with the help of some clever word play.
Electra, despite her trap, becomes a presence. She maintains pitiful public devotion to her father, living miserably in mourning, and, in doing so, skillfully wields some power and influence. At the heart of this play is Electra's language and how she works over the other characters. She becomes the fury who harasses the murderers.
- introduction and notes by Michael Shaw
- editors¡¯ forward by Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro
first performed: c. 405 bce
translation 2001 (Anne's introduction comes from a 1993 lecture)
format: 130 page Oxford University Press paperback
acquired: borrowed from my library
read: Aug 11-15
rating: 4 stars
Just another Greek Tragedy, but this was different in presentation. Anne Carson's translation was excellent and brought alive the tension in Electra's language in the first key first parts of this play. And the two introductions, one by Shaw and the other by Carson, pick apart the play and it's structure, revealing a lot more of what is there.
The play itself is a tragedy with a "happy" ending. Electra is trapped, living with her mother and her mother's lover, she is in serious danger, and cannot marry and bear any children. She can only cooperate. But, her brother Orestes will rescue her by killing their own mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, with the help of some clever word play.
(in front of a covered corpse, that Aegisthus does not know is Clytemnestra.)Clearly a happy play.
Orestes:
This isn't my corpse¡ªit's yours.
Yours to look at, yours to eulogize.
Aegisthus:
Yes good point. I have to agree.
You there¡ªClytemnestra must be about in the house¡ª
call her for me.
Orestes:
She is right before you. No need to look elsewhere.
Electra, despite her trap, becomes a presence. She maintains pitiful public devotion to her father, living miserably in mourning, and, in doing so, skillfully wields some power and influence. At the heart of this play is Electra's language and how she works over the other characters. She becomes the fury who harasses the murderers.
By dread things I am compelled. I know that.
I see the trap closing.
I know what I am.
October 3, 2022
I enjoyed "Elektra" a lot more than I thought I would - and it's definitely because of the translation, introduction and notes by Robert Bagg.
The story in itself is... frankly, a lot simpler than I'd have thought. Elektra is the daughter of Klytemnestra and Agamemnon. As Greek audiences would have known, Agamemnon had been the leader of the Greek army in the Trojan War. Returning home victorious, he was murdered by his wife, Klytemnestra and her lover (the urge to call her "Klytty" just so I don't have to spell her whole name is incredible).
Many years after the fact, Elektra is still not over it. She's growing up in her mother's home treated like a slave (or so she says) and hoping that one day her little brother Orestes will be back to enact revenge. She's openly hostile to her mother and her new husband, spewing bile all the time and invoking the gods to deliver "justice".
Orestes finally returns; there's a ploy to persuade everyone that he died during a chariot race in which he was proving his worth.
The play is filled with foreboding; none of the characters are particularly sympathetic. There's a sense of "it needs to get done", and the triumph feels hollow. You can't help but remember that, in avenging the death of their father, they are now guilty of murdering their mother.
The story in itself is... frankly, a lot simpler than I'd have thought. Elektra is the daughter of Klytemnestra and Agamemnon. As Greek audiences would have known, Agamemnon had been the leader of the Greek army in the Trojan War. Returning home victorious, he was murdered by his wife, Klytemnestra and her lover (the urge to call her "Klytty" just so I don't have to spell her whole name is incredible).
Many years after the fact, Elektra is still not over it. She's growing up in her mother's home treated like a slave (or so she says) and hoping that one day her little brother Orestes will be back to enact revenge. She's openly hostile to her mother and her new husband, spewing bile all the time and invoking the gods to deliver "justice".
Orestes finally returns; there's a ploy to persuade everyone that he died during a chariot race in which he was proving his worth.
The play is filled with foreboding; none of the characters are particularly sympathetic. There's a sense of "it needs to get done", and the triumph feels hollow. You can't help but remember that, in avenging the death of their father, they are now guilty of murdering their mother.
November 11, 2022
aeschylus electra: i am so fucking upset about my dad whom my mother killed. orestes come home and kill her please. after hyping you up i will now dutifully disappear for the rest of the play to act the part of good daughter until my mother is dead
sophocles electra on stage while her brother kills her mother:
things i don't like about this play: that clytemnestra is cartoonishly evil. cmon sophocles put some nuance in that beast. things i like a lot: electra is SO hamlet in this one. she gets to dominate the stage in her grief and near-madness. i mean, come on, tell me "You filthy creature, hated by the gods, // are you the only person in the world // who's lost a father?" is not exactly what claudius says to hamlet in 1.2. she also has her own heroic code!!! she's dead set on gaining glory for herself, by murdering her mother with her own hands if need be. (fascinating to think about how sophocles and euripides are playing with the same things here. this rendition, while not quite as cutting as euripides', feels much more cynical than aeschylus's--i mean, look at orestes' cruelty versus his hesitation in the oresteia, or electra implying they ought to toss aegisthus out for dogs.)
also interesting is the way this play toys with the idea of reciprocal justice, which is, of course, the thing destroying the house of atreus (father kills daughter, mother kills father, son kills mother, and so forth). clytemnestra claims she only speaks harshly to electra because electra lashes out at her first, and though electra condemns her for this, she proceeds to declare that her mother's evil deeds merit evil responses. it's what the chorus says: "in your misery you have won misery." the revenge narrative gets ya
also i think about ismene : antigone :: chrysothemis : electra parallels i do
translations read: sir richard claverhouse jebb, mary lefkowitz
--> unfortunately i did not love either of these translations. the former is in prose and it was written in the 1960s. so it's not even, like, brief and to-the-point prose. the latter is poetry, but it's from a book that tries to translate things as line-for-line as possible, which means sometimes it gets really lifeless (like electra's cries of grief being translated as flat "Oh, no, take pity on me, I've died this day," period, and "I'm dead, poor me, I'm nothing now," period).
notable lines:
"Why are you enamored of misery?" (Jebb)
¡°ELECTRA (to CLYTEMNESTRA): Denounce me to all as disloyal, if you will, or petulant, or impudent; for if I am accomplished in such ways I think I am no unworthy child of yours.¡± (Jebb)
¡°ELECTRA: At these gates I will lay me down, and here, without a friend, my days shall wither.¡± (Jebb)
¡°ELECTRA: If I had been alone I should have achieved one of two things, a noble deliverance or a noble death.¡± (Jebb)
"From your bloody hand drips an offering to Ares." (Lefkowitz, lines 1422-3)
and of course the wicked
¡°AEGISTHUS: Where then may the strangers be? Tell me.
ELECTRA: Inside. They have found a way to the heart of their hostess.¡± (Jebb)
as well as, i think, the thing that sums up the whole house of atreus Deal:
"Why, if the deed is good, must it be done in darkness?" (Lefkowitz, 1493-4)
??
sophocles electra on stage while her brother kills her mother:
things i don't like about this play: that clytemnestra is cartoonishly evil. cmon sophocles put some nuance in that beast. things i like a lot: electra is SO hamlet in this one. she gets to dominate the stage in her grief and near-madness. i mean, come on, tell me "You filthy creature, hated by the gods, // are you the only person in the world // who's lost a father?" is not exactly what claudius says to hamlet in 1.2. she also has her own heroic code!!! she's dead set on gaining glory for herself, by murdering her mother with her own hands if need be. (fascinating to think about how sophocles and euripides are playing with the same things here. this rendition, while not quite as cutting as euripides', feels much more cynical than aeschylus's--i mean, look at orestes' cruelty versus his hesitation in the oresteia, or electra implying they ought to toss aegisthus out for dogs.)
also interesting is the way this play toys with the idea of reciprocal justice, which is, of course, the thing destroying the house of atreus (father kills daughter, mother kills father, son kills mother, and so forth). clytemnestra claims she only speaks harshly to electra because electra lashes out at her first, and though electra condemns her for this, she proceeds to declare that her mother's evil deeds merit evil responses. it's what the chorus says: "in your misery you have won misery." the revenge narrative gets ya
also i think about ismene : antigone :: chrysothemis : electra parallels i do
translations read: sir richard claverhouse jebb, mary lefkowitz
--> unfortunately i did not love either of these translations. the former is in prose and it was written in the 1960s. so it's not even, like, brief and to-the-point prose. the latter is poetry, but it's from a book that tries to translate things as line-for-line as possible, which means sometimes it gets really lifeless (like electra's cries of grief being translated as flat "Oh, no, take pity on me, I've died this day," period, and "I'm dead, poor me, I'm nothing now," period).
notable lines:
"Why are you enamored of misery?" (Jebb)
¡°ELECTRA (to CLYTEMNESTRA): Denounce me to all as disloyal, if you will, or petulant, or impudent; for if I am accomplished in such ways I think I am no unworthy child of yours.¡± (Jebb)
¡°ELECTRA: At these gates I will lay me down, and here, without a friend, my days shall wither.¡± (Jebb)
¡°ELECTRA: If I had been alone I should have achieved one of two things, a noble deliverance or a noble death.¡± (Jebb)
"From your bloody hand drips an offering to Ares." (Lefkowitz, lines 1422-3)
and of course the wicked
¡°AEGISTHUS: Where then may the strangers be? Tell me.
ELECTRA: Inside. They have found a way to the heart of their hostess.¡± (Jebb)
as well as, i think, the thing that sums up the whole house of atreus Deal:
"Why, if the deed is good, must it be done in darkness?" (Lefkowitz, 1493-4)
??
October 4, 2013
'Electra' is not just about the continual antagonism between mother and daughter. Indeed, Sophocles was very careful not to pick sides to a certain extent (he neither approves nor condemns), leaving the interpretation to the audience instead.
It is also about standing up for yourself and for what you believe to be right. Even though Electra was subject in those times to her mother's and father's will, she never fails to make her point clear. If in nothing else, Sophocles gives Electra reason from a legal standpoint as well; "If life for life be the rule, Justice demands your life before all others" (as Electra says to her mother Clytaemnestra). What is not clear, and I think that this is deliberate, is whether she wanted to kill Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra out of her undying love for her beloved father Agamemnon or just out of her need for revenge.
Women in this play are considered to be as equal as men as regards to plotting, Orestes himself reminds Electra: "Remember, women are sometimes warriors too. You have good cause to know this." This play also examines whether it is actually really useless to cry over spilt milk (the main argument by which the chorus and Chrysothemis try to persuade Electra to abandon her desire for revenge) or whether one is ultimately justified in carrying out his/her 'payback' when the appropriate time arrives. Again, Sophocles is not clear on this matter.
However, Sophocles gives Electra and Orestes their justification for their cause near the end of the play. Aegisthus, when they show him the covered body of Clytaemnestra and he is deceived in thinking that the body is in fact of Orestes he says: "Surely O god, there is example here of righteous retribution". This is ironical, as what this actually means is that he is justifying, without being aware of it, the 'capital punishment' of his wife (and of himself), being the hand behind Agamemnon's murder.
Many of the play's controversial implications can still be related to nowadays. Overall, Sophocles did an exceptional job in bringing to life such a dramatic legend.
It is also about standing up for yourself and for what you believe to be right. Even though Electra was subject in those times to her mother's and father's will, she never fails to make her point clear. If in nothing else, Sophocles gives Electra reason from a legal standpoint as well; "If life for life be the rule, Justice demands your life before all others" (as Electra says to her mother Clytaemnestra). What is not clear, and I think that this is deliberate, is whether she wanted to kill Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra out of her undying love for her beloved father Agamemnon or just out of her need for revenge.
Women in this play are considered to be as equal as men as regards to plotting, Orestes himself reminds Electra: "Remember, women are sometimes warriors too. You have good cause to know this." This play also examines whether it is actually really useless to cry over spilt milk (the main argument by which the chorus and Chrysothemis try to persuade Electra to abandon her desire for revenge) or whether one is ultimately justified in carrying out his/her 'payback' when the appropriate time arrives. Again, Sophocles is not clear on this matter.
However, Sophocles gives Electra and Orestes their justification for their cause near the end of the play. Aegisthus, when they show him the covered body of Clytaemnestra and he is deceived in thinking that the body is in fact of Orestes he says: "Surely O god, there is example here of righteous retribution". This is ironical, as what this actually means is that he is justifying, without being aware of it, the 'capital punishment' of his wife (and of himself), being the hand behind Agamemnon's murder.
Many of the play's controversial implications can still be related to nowadays. Overall, Sophocles did an exceptional job in bringing to life such a dramatic legend.
August 8, 2022
and here we can see sophocles who wrote both my favorite greek play (antigone) and the one that fills me with the most rage (elektra), everyone let's appreciate this man's range.
listen it's very hard for me to read this play because not only am i clytemnestra apologist but also (spoiler btw! this play is two thousand years old but still) elektra does... almost nothing? she simply waits until her brother returns and then he does all the killing. so like what am i reading then. she also condemns her mother for killing someone in response to a murder, then says she wants to kill her mother for killing agammenon. make it make sense.
with all this said, the translation i read was good and the writing did go kinda hard i said that but i stand by it. like say what i will, but this was written in 410bc right, and obviously there's a lot that separates us from the ancient greeks which make it so things get lost for me (there's over two thousand years of difference of culture between sophocles and me, and i'm not a classist where it'd be easier for me to close the cultural gap), but like this is fun.
this also made me really want to read the oresteia which i'm counting as a win.
anyway this was fun though! elektra is just not a protagonist i enjoy most of the times even if she has her moments, and overall i hate agammenon with a burning passion, so it's hard for me not to root for clytemnestra here, who is written as a villain.
listen it's very hard for me to read this play because not only am i clytemnestra apologist but also (spoiler btw! this play is two thousand years old but still) elektra does... almost nothing? she simply waits until her brother returns and then he does all the killing. so like what am i reading then. she also condemns her mother for killing someone in response to a murder, then says she wants to kill her mother for killing agammenon. make it make sense.
with all this said, the translation i read was good and the writing did go kinda hard i said that but i stand by it. like say what i will, but this was written in 410bc right, and obviously there's a lot that separates us from the ancient greeks which make it so things get lost for me (there's over two thousand years of difference of culture between sophocles and me, and i'm not a classist where it'd be easier for me to close the cultural gap), but like this is fun.
this also made me really want to read the oresteia which i'm counting as a win.
anyway this was fun though! elektra is just not a protagonist i enjoy most of the times even if she has her moments, and overall i hate agammenon with a burning passion, so it's hard for me not to root for clytemnestra here, who is written as a villain.
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