The Oresteia: Agamemnon; The Libation Bearers; The Eumenides

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list by Just Another Robot

A classic trilogy of plays featuring highly-dysfunctional family dynamics, murder, wailing, supernatural meddling, and a heap-load of vengeance. "Crush their skulls! Kill! Kill!" It's violent, but it's literature-- and it goes well with death metal. What more could you ask for?

Description: In the Oresteia—the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity—Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, the family’s spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration. This masterful translation by the acclaimed classicist Robert Fagles includes an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W. B. Stanford. In the Oresteia—the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity—Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, the family’s spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration. This masterful translation by the acclaimed classicist Robert Fagles includes an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W. B. Stanford. ... (more) (less)