Monday, June 01, 2009
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.
