Prometheus In the beginning, though [humans] had eyes to see, they saw to no avail; they had ears, but they did not understand; but, just as shapes in dreams, throughout their length of days, without purpose they wrought all things in confusion. They had neither knowledge of houses built of bricks and turned to face the sun nor yet of work in wood; but dwelt beneath the ground like swarming […]
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“Suppliants” by Aeschylus
Aeschylus’ Zeus The desire of Zeus is not easy to hunt out: the paths of his mind stretch tangled and shadowy, impossible to perceive or see clearly. It falls safe, not on its back, when an action is ordained by the nod of Zeus. It blazes everywhere, even in darkness, with black [obscure] fortune for mortal folk. He casts human down from lofty, towering hopes to utter destruction without deploying […]
Read more“Seven Against Thebes” by Aeschylus
Two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, killed each other in battle, because they were not willing to share their father’s kingdom. They perished in a manner appropriate to their names –with “true glory”(Eteocles) and “much strife”(Polynices). Aeschylus attributed the mutual destruction of the two brothers to the sins of their grandfather, the curse of their father and the wrath of the gods, whereas Euripides attributed it to their own […]
Read more“Persians” by Aeschylus
Aeschylus’ dramatic account of the immediate aftermath of Xerxes’ invasion of Greece and disastrous defeat in the Battle of Salamis. Like Herodotus, Aeschylus depicts Xerxes I of Persia as a presumptuous figure, blinded by his inherited wealth and power, driven mad and punished by god for his hubris. I wonder what the poets and historians would have said if Xerxes had succeeded in conquering Greece. He wasn’t the only one […]
Read more“Rhesus” by Euripides
Rhesus, King of Thrace, came to the aid of Hector near the end of the Trojay War, claiming that he would destroy the Greeks in one day though the Trojans had failed to defeat them after ten years. Ironically, he was killed in his sleep on that same day by Odysseus and Diomedes, who spied on the Trojan camp and stole his precious horses. His death caused distrust and strife […]
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“Alcestis” by Euripides
Admetus was spared by Death on condition that he could find a substitute. No one, not even his own parents were willing to die in his stead, but only his wife, Alcestis, offered to die for him. It may be worth noting that the life of a woman was valued far less than that of a man in ancient Greek culture. I cannot fully sympathize with Admetus when he grieves […]
Read more“Cyclops” by Euripides
Life of a Satyr Just keep pouring the wine. Never mind the gold. I would like to drink down a single cup of this wine, giving all the Cyclopes’ flocks in exchange for it, and then to leap from the Leucadian cliff into the brine, good and drunk with my eyebrows smoothed out. The man who does not enjoy drinking is mad: in drink one can raise this to a […]
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