Eumenides - Softcover

Aeschylus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1502375516 ISBN 13: 9781502375513

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

In the Oresteia Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. In 'The Eumenides', Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, The Oresteia is a compelling tragedy of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society. Check out our other books at www.dogstailbooks.co.uk

About this title

Book Description:

A text, with introduction and commentary, of Eumenides, the climactic play of the only surviving complete Greek Trilogy, the Oresteia of Aeschylus, and the one most relevant to the Athenian state at the time of its performance.

About the Author:

Aeschylus (c. 525/524 BC – c. 456/455 BC) was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays can still be read or performed, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. He is often described as the father of tragedy. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in plays to allow for conflict amongst them, whereas previously characters had interacted only with the chorus. He was probably the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy; his Oresteia is the only ancient example of the form to have survived. Only seven of his estimated seventy to ninety plays have survived into modern times. The Persian Wars would play a large role in the playwright's life and career. In 490 BC, Aeschylus and his brother Cynegeirus fought to defend Athens against Darius I's invading Persian army at the Battle of Marathon. In 480, Aeschylus was called into military service again, this time against Xerxes I's invading forces at the Battle of Salamis. In 458 BC, he returned to Sicily for the last time, visiting the city of Gela where he died in 456 or 455 BC. Valerius Maximus wrote that he was killed outside the city by a tortoise dropped by an eagle which had mistook his head for a rock suitable for shattering the shell of the reptile. Pliny, in his Naturalis Historię, adds that Aeschylus had been staying outdoors to avoid a prophecy that he would be killed by a falling object.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1502375516
• ISBN 13: 9781502375513
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48
• Editor: Jonson Will