Bibliograph

The Greek plays, Ellen Mclaughlin

Type

Label

The Greek plays, Ellen Mclaughlin

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Literary Form

fiction

Main title

The Greek plays

Medium

electronic resource

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Responsibility statement

Ellen Mclaughlin

Summary

From The Persians: "Defeat is impossible, Defeat is unthinkable, We have always been the favorites of fate. Fortune has cupped us In her golden palms. It has only been a matter Of choosing our desire. Which fruit To pick from the nodding tree." This chilling passage is from Ellen McLaughlin's new adaptation of The Persians by Aeschylus, the earliest surviving play in Western literature, an elegy for a fallen civilization and a warning to its new conqueror. As Margo Jefferson wrote in the New York Times, "The play is a true classic: we see the present and the future right there, inside the past. And when writers give us a 'new version' (a translation or adaptation) of a classic, they both serve and use it. They serve the playwright's gifts by refusing to simplify. But they can't just imitate. Every age has its own rhythms and drives. The classic must make us feel the new acutely. Ellen McLaughlin serves and uses The Persians with true power and grace." Also included in this volume: Iphigenia and Other Daughters (from Euripides and Sophocles); The Trojan Women (Euripides); Helen (Euripides); and Lysistrata (Aristophanes), all powerfully realized and as relevant today as when they were first performed

Target audience

adult

Classification