Monday, June 01, 2009
MEDEA
Author: Euripides
Date: 431 BC
No one can accuse Euripides of being subtle. After reading only two of his plays, it becomes obvious that he relies, for his plots, on the most basic, or perhaps I should say base, impulses of mankind; he likes violence, lots of violence. Medea is like a dish that leaves a bitter taste on the mouth; there is no catharsis here, and the same could be said of Orestes. It is too early for me to reach an understanding of this author's world, but I could venture some tentative readings. I do not see him as a cynic, but rather as someone who incorporates philosophy and politics into his plays in an unusual way; these themes are imbedded in the dialogue at times, but Euripides refuses to offer a dramatic solution to the problems he exposes; that would be too easy: reality is more complex than that, he seems to be saying; he'd rather shock us, perplex us, because the real world is perplexing, and there is no easy solution to the world's problems, which ultimately stem from human nature, in all its dimensions, including the darker ones.
Date: 431 BC
No one can accuse Euripides of being subtle. After reading only two of his plays, it becomes obvious that he relies, for his plots, on the most basic, or perhaps I should say base, impulses of mankind; he likes violence, lots of violence. Medea is like a dish that leaves a bitter taste on the mouth; there is no catharsis here, and the same could be said of Orestes. It is too early for me to reach an understanding of this author's world, but I could venture some tentative readings. I do not see him as a cynic, but rather as someone who incorporates philosophy and politics into his plays in an unusual way; these themes are imbedded in the dialogue at times, but Euripides refuses to offer a dramatic solution to the problems he exposes; that would be too easy: reality is more complex than that, he seems to be saying; he'd rather shock us, perplex us, because the real world is perplexing, and there is no easy solution to the world's problems, which ultimately stem from human nature, in all its dimensions, including the darker ones.
ORESTES
Author: Euripides
Date: 408 BC
Very interesting play. Very unconventional, and very disturbing in its moral aspect. Perhaps on account on those characteristics, it has a modern feel about it. It feels like a hard-boiled novel by James Hadley Chase or a film noir, save for its ending, which pushes the envelope even further. The deus ex machina cannot be dismissed as 'too easy' or 'uncalled for' or 'not stemming from the plot' without some deeper reflexion; one must consider that the absence of Apollo throughout most of the play may be viewed, after all, as an important factor of unbalance. Maybe the real theme of the play is the havoc which comes about in the world when the gods cease to interfere. More about Euripides in the next entry.
Date: 408 BC
Very interesting play. Very unconventional, and very disturbing in its moral aspect. Perhaps on account on those characteristics, it has a modern feel about it. It feels like a hard-boiled novel by James Hadley Chase or a film noir, save for its ending, which pushes the envelope even further. The deus ex machina cannot be dismissed as 'too easy' or 'uncalled for' or 'not stemming from the plot' without some deeper reflexion; one must consider that the absence of Apollo throughout most of the play may be viewed, after all, as an important factor of unbalance. Maybe the real theme of the play is the havoc which comes about in the world when the gods cease to interfere. More about Euripides in the next entry.
ANTIGONE
Author: Sophocles
Date: 442 BC
This play is well regarded generally; my opinion is that it flows well, and is effective dramatically (although I haven't seen a performance of it). People like to point out its political reverberations, and I suspect they are right.
Date: 442 BC
This play is well regarded generally; my opinion is that it flows well, and is effective dramatically (although I haven't seen a performance of it). People like to point out its political reverberations, and I suspect they are right.
OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Author: Sophocles
Date: written in 406 BC, first produced in 401 BC
I rarely enjoy the works of very old people, as they don't seem to have the urgency and the ease of narrative flow of those written by younger ones. This play is by no means an exception to the rule. And it has the feel of a sequel, in its less savory aspects of revisionism and unessentiality. That being said, it is wonderfully written, perhaps even more so than the other Theban plays; and people have found a wealth of meaning in it, so it must have some value. Some remarks are due here, about some details of the plot that almost no one seems to get right, or pay attention to anyway. Oedipus is wanted by the Thebans for some very specific reasons concerning the religious obligations toward the dead. Namely, if he dies in an unknown place, his grave will go either unattended or it will be attended by someone other than his Theban relatives. This would bring ill fortune upon his relatives. This is why they want to keep him at hand; so that they can bury him in a place where it would be easy for them to pay the posthumous duties toward him. The perverse twist here is that they do not consent to bury him inside the gates of Thebes, because he is "polluted" by his former patricidal and incestuous acts; thus they are willing to bury him right outside those gates; as expected, Oedipus is not at all pleased with this proposed arrangement, and prefers instead to give the knowledge of the location of his grave to the king of Athens, who offered him hospitality. It may be a little hazardous to give such a positive interpretation of this text based only on translations as is my case. So be it, it is done; the fact is, some translations conform exactly to this interpretation, others only partially, and the rest not at all. Storr is exactly right, Roche is perfectly wrong, to give only two examples.
Date: written in 406 BC, first produced in 401 BC
I rarely enjoy the works of very old people, as they don't seem to have the urgency and the ease of narrative flow of those written by younger ones. This play is by no means an exception to the rule. And it has the feel of a sequel, in its less savory aspects of revisionism and unessentiality. That being said, it is wonderfully written, perhaps even more so than the other Theban plays; and people have found a wealth of meaning in it, so it must have some value. Some remarks are due here, about some details of the plot that almost no one seems to get right, or pay attention to anyway. Oedipus is wanted by the Thebans for some very specific reasons concerning the religious obligations toward the dead. Namely, if he dies in an unknown place, his grave will go either unattended or it will be attended by someone other than his Theban relatives. This would bring ill fortune upon his relatives. This is why they want to keep him at hand; so that they can bury him in a place where it would be easy for them to pay the posthumous duties toward him. The perverse twist here is that they do not consent to bury him inside the gates of Thebes, because he is "polluted" by his former patricidal and incestuous acts; thus they are willing to bury him right outside those gates; as expected, Oedipus is not at all pleased with this proposed arrangement, and prefers instead to give the knowledge of the location of his grave to the king of Athens, who offered him hospitality. It may be a little hazardous to give such a positive interpretation of this text based only on translations as is my case. So be it, it is done; the fact is, some translations conform exactly to this interpretation, others only partially, and the rest not at all. Storr is exactly right, Roche is perfectly wrong, to give only two examples.
OEDIPUS THE KING
Author: Sophocles
Date: 429 BC
Probably one of the most perfect literary works of all times, if I may indulge in the kind of pointless comparative musing which make the fame of some literary critics of late. Not only it is perfectly structured, but the richness of meaning is bewildering - points which are hardly in need of stressing, given its huge cultural reverberation. As for the style, it is clear to me, after reading the three Theban plays, that Sophocles is an accomplished writer, even by today's standards. Of course, I only had translations on which to base my opinion, but there is only so much improvement a translator can effect on a work.
Date: 429 BC
Probably one of the most perfect literary works of all times, if I may indulge in the kind of pointless comparative musing which make the fame of some literary critics of late. Not only it is perfectly structured, but the richness of meaning is bewildering - points which are hardly in need of stressing, given its huge cultural reverberation. As for the style, it is clear to me, after reading the three Theban plays, that Sophocles is an accomplished writer, even by today's standards. Of course, I only had translations on which to base my opinion, but there is only so much improvement a translator can effect on a work.
THE EUMENIDES
Author: Aeschylus
Date: 458 BC
The Eumenides is apparently well regarded mostly for its political subtext. The opposition between the Erinyes, which stand for individual justice, and Law as embodied by the Areopage, and the eventual cooptation of the Erinyes (in its new, "tamed" identity of the Eumenides) by this very legal system, has been deconstructed as the intrinsic reliance of any social organization upon some form of social coertion.
This is the third play of the Oresteia. My opinion of this trilogy is not very favorable. It is hard, in my opinion, to establish a personal connection with these works without a certain condescendence, and without bearing in mind at all times their historical, religious, and sociological context. Of course we all love Aeschylus for being the first, for having opened the way, so to speak. I am not denying that. But that is not the same as saying he was a great author.
Date: 458 BC
The Eumenides is apparently well regarded mostly for its political subtext. The opposition between the Erinyes, which stand for individual justice, and Law as embodied by the Areopage, and the eventual cooptation of the Erinyes (in its new, "tamed" identity of the Eumenides) by this very legal system, has been deconstructed as the intrinsic reliance of any social organization upon some form of social coertion.
This is the third play of the Oresteia. My opinion of this trilogy is not very favorable. It is hard, in my opinion, to establish a personal connection with these works without a certain condescendence, and without bearing in mind at all times their historical, religious, and sociological context. Of course we all love Aeschylus for being the first, for having opened the way, so to speak. I am not denying that. But that is not the same as saying he was a great author.
THE LIBATION BEARERS
Author: Aeschylus
Date: 458 BC
This is the second play of the Oresteia, wherein Orestes plans and executes its revenge for the murder of his father, killing Clitemnestra and Aegisthus. It has its share of intrigue, and reflexion too; it is probably dull and entertaining in equal shares. Some people point out the similarity between the Oresteian myth and the Danish medieval legend of Amleth, all the more intriguing because all evidence points to the inexistence of any point of contact between the civilizations which gave birth to each myth.
Date: 458 BC
This is the second play of the Oresteia, wherein Orestes plans and executes its revenge for the murder of his father, killing Clitemnestra and Aegisthus. It has its share of intrigue, and reflexion too; it is probably dull and entertaining in equal shares. Some people point out the similarity between the Oresteian myth and the Danish medieval legend of Amleth, all the more intriguing because all evidence points to the inexistence of any point of contact between the civilizations which gave birth to each myth.
AGAMEMNON
Author: Aeschylus
Date: 458 BC
The first part of the Oresteia trilogy, and perhaps the best play of the three, on account of the intense personality of Clitemnestra.
Date: 458 BC
The first part of the Oresteia trilogy, and perhaps the best play of the three, on account of the intense personality of Clitemnestra.
THE PERSIANS
Author: Aeschylus
Date: 472 BC
The Persians is all about "don't mess with the Greeks" told from the point of view of those that did, and didn't come off well. The descriptions of the war are the most interesting parts of the play. Nothing further to remark here. From a purely subjective angle, in regards to the amount of aesthetical pleasure involved in the reading, I would say - and this goes for the Oresteia too - that this is not an author that impressed me. "Primitive" is the word that comes to mind.
Date: 472 BC
The Persians is all about "don't mess with the Greeks" told from the point of view of those that did, and didn't come off well. The descriptions of the war are the most interesting parts of the play. Nothing further to remark here. From a purely subjective angle, in regards to the amount of aesthetical pleasure involved in the reading, I would say - and this goes for the Oresteia too - that this is not an author that impressed me. "Primitive" is the word that comes to mind.
POETICS
Author: Aristotle.
Date: 335 BC
I will abstain from commenting this book, since I don't think I can add something relevant or original at the present moment to the already extensive body of literature concerning it.
Some minor remarks, though. This text is full of contradictions and, in the translations which I have read, of obscure passages. One of the most blatant contradictions is the fact that, at one point, Aristotle considers that an unhappy ending is the best way to end a tragedy; in a later passage, he claims that the best type of recognition is that in which the character perceives his error when he is about to commit the act, and refrains from doing it - which in my view prevents an unhappy ending.
Another curious fact is the statement that some forms of music, being mimetic, are considered as poetry.
Date: 335 BC
I will abstain from commenting this book, since I don't think I can add something relevant or original at the present moment to the already extensive body of literature concerning it.
Some minor remarks, though. This text is full of contradictions and, in the translations which I have read, of obscure passages. One of the most blatant contradictions is the fact that, at one point, Aristotle considers that an unhappy ending is the best way to end a tragedy; in a later passage, he claims that the best type of recognition is that in which the character perceives his error when he is about to commit the act, and refrains from doing it - which in my view prevents an unhappy ending.
Another curious fact is the statement that some forms of music, being mimetic, are considered as poetry.
