Medea and Other Plays
by Euripides, Philip Vellacott (Translator, Introduction by)
ISBN-10: 0140441298
ISBN-13: 9780140441291
$11.00
Book Specs
Binding
UK-B Format Paperback
Publisher
Penguin Classics
Published on
Aug 30, 1963
Edition
1st Edition
Dimensions
7.78x5.06x0.51 Inches
Weight
0.35 Pounds
About the Book
The four tragedies collected in this volume all focus on a central character, once powerful, brought down by betrayal, jealousy, guilt and hatred. The first playwright to depict suffering without reference to the gods, Euripides (c.485-407 BC) made his characters speak in human terms and face the consequences of their actions. In Medea, a woman rejected by her lover takes hideous revenge by murdering the children they both love, and Hecabe depicts the former queen of Troy, driven mad by the prospect of her daughter's sacrifice to Achilles. Electra portrays a young woman planning to avenge the brutal death of her father at the hands of her mother, while in Heracles the hero seeks vengeance against the evil king who has caused bloodshed in his family.