The Bacchae and Other Plays (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Euripides

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140447261 ISBN 13: 9780140447262

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2006

Synopsis

The plays of Euripides have stimulated audiences since the fifth century BC. This volume, containing Phoenician Women, Bacchae, Iphigenia at Aulis, Orestes, and Rhesus
completes the new editions of Euripides in Penguin Classics.

• Features a general introduction, individual prefaces to each play, chronology, notes, bibliography, and glossary

About this title

About the Author

Euripides, the youngest of the three great Athenian playwrights, was born around 485 BC of a family of good standing. He first competed in the dramatic festivals in 455 BC, coming only third; his record of success in the tragic competitions is lower than that of either Aeschylus or Sophocles. There is a tradition that he was unpopular, even a recluse; we are told that he composed poetry in a cave by the sea, near Salamis. What is clear from contemporary evidence, however, is that audiences were fascinated by his innovative and often disturbing dramas. His work was controversial already in his lifetime, and he himself was regarded as a ‘clever’ poet, associated with philosophers and other intellectuals. Towards the end of his life he went to live at the court of Archelaus, king of Macedon. It was during his time there that he wrote what many consider his greates work, the Bacchae. When news of his death reached Athens in early 406 BC, Sophocles appeared publicly in mourning for him. Euripides is thought to have written about ninety-two plays, of which seventeen tragedies and one satyr-play known to be his survive; the other play which is attributed to him, the Rhesus, may in fact be by a later hand.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140447261
• ISBN 13: 9780140447262
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432