An Oresteia Agamemnon by Aiskhylos; Elektra by Sophokles; Orestes by Euripides

Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus — 2009

A Bold, Iconoclastic New Look at One of the Great Works of Greek Tragedy In this innovative rendition of The Oresteia, the poet, translator, and essayist Anne Carson combines three different visions—Aischylos' Agamemnon, Sophokles' Elektra, and Euripides' Orestes—giving birth to a wholly new experience of the classic Greek triumvirate of vengeance. After the murder of her daughter Iphegenia by her husband Agamemnon, Klytaimestra exacts a mother's revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytaimestra's actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father's death with the help of his sister Elektra. In the end, Orestes, driven mad by the Furies for his bloody betrayal of family, and Elektra are condemned to death by the people of Argos, and must justify their actions—signaling a call to change in society, a shift from the capricious governing of the gods to the rule of manmade law. Carson's accomplished rendering combines elements of contemporary vernacular with the traditional structures and rhetoric of Greek tragedy, opening up the plays to a modern audience. In addition to its accessibility, the wit and dazzling morbidity of her prose sheds new light on the saga for scholars. Anne Carson's Oresteia is a watershed translation, a death-dance of vengeance and passion not to be missed.

Reviews

cel@sleeptowns

Jan 13, 2024

as much as i’d like to write something articulate enough to be understood, i feel that my thoughts are too jumbled and opposite to be able to. this is the first work i’ve read by anne carson and it was not a disappointment. often times, it’s hard to find a translation that does justice to the original language — not that i have anything to compare this to — but there is a sort of tender, mindful approach that i feel ac took toward an oresteia that is imbued within her words, and it makes me feel So Much that i (almost) feel guilty for procrastinating this as much as i did. the focus on the house of atreus, in particular: a home, the family, the ancestry — the preservation of it, going as far as to burn it down so no other hands could taint it more than it already has become. elektra’s bitter and scornful words for her mother with lines like, “i am the shape you made me / filth teaches filth,” that i feel like, in its own indirect way, circles back to the home, the family, the house, and everything it stands for.

sha@regressor

Jul 6, 2023

i’ve exhausted the bulk of my praise for anne carson’s translation style over antigonick but:

— it’s criminal how little aeschylus she’s published bc i could feel his greek singing through her translation and there was a point where it bordered on spiritual

— this poured straight diesel into my The House of Atreus Is An Actual Haunted House agenda with lines like: there is something bad here / growing. day and night / i watch it. growing. and the throwaway mention of helen’s ghost haunting menelaus’ house... i’m obsessed

— anne carson’s forewords to her own translations are always the cherry on top but they were especially interesting in this context not only for the insight they offered into the women of the house of atreus, helen and iphigenia included, but also the traversing across time/history required in cobbling together an oresteia composed of all three tragedians