Aeschylus II: The Oresteia (The Complete Greek Tragedies)

Poetic and graceful. A somewhat free translation, but well done, readable. I prefer it to the facing translation in the current Loeb edition of the Greek text. The Meineck translation is perhaps more current in its language, and follows the pace of the Greek closely, but is not quite as pleasing to the senses in my opinion. Neither has pride of place in fidelity to the Greek, which in itself is difficult & leaves room for rendition in translation.

Great edition of an ancient drama. Very well put together, in readable, compelling language. Perfect edition for students

You can decide for yourself whether you like the substance of this classic work. This review refers to the University of Chicago Press edition. The translations are excellent and very readable, as are the introductions to each work. The UC Press publication is very high quality. Smooth paper for margin notes and crisp printing.

Still the best combination for the average (undergrad) reader of accuracy and readability. Though I've never gotten over the fact that Lattimore inaccurately translates two DIFFERENT words as "daring," one of them being the Greek word "hubris." The result is that Helen is described as having hubris, directly contrary to the intent of the text (Paris, NOT Helen, is the epitome of hubris; Helen is something else, a kind of force of nature and a wild animal raised to deadly effect as a tame housepet, according to one metaphor).

Good notes and glossary. Without a strong background in classics (which is the norm nowadays) the glossary especially is of great help for understanding the gods, characters, places, etc and what they represent. The notes that say "text uncertain" are honestly kinda pointless because it's not like we have any better way, considering the original texts are often damaged or missing.

Reading the original tragedians is a mind cleanse. Aeschylus has the knack for hard dark descriptions of destiny. Characters trapped in karmic trajectories that were initiated before they were even born. Abraham was stopped from killing Isaac, but Agamemnon's sacrifice of his favorite daughter to achieve the sack of Troy, brings down the famous house of Atreus. The description of her sacrifice curdles the blood & in the third play in the trilogy, the chorus of furies that chase Orestes, really gets off great lines in what is the world's 1st court room drama. Also Cltemnestra's dream of suckling a snake is a deep image for the ages.

I'm now retired (though not old enough to have met the playwright!) and have some more time for "remedial humanities." After taking a course in ancient Greek theater, I wanted to read these. It's a very good, readable translation that conveys the spirit of the original. If you're an Aeschylus fan (and I'm talking to both of you!), you'll enjoy it.

This classic translation by Richmond Lattimore, the greatest exponent of ancient Greek literature in the middle third of the 20th century, has been "tactfully" corrected by two lesser lights, meaning that they have made any number of changes without bothering to identify any of them, though that would have been a nice opportunity to discuss the problematic cruxes that they felt the need to correct. There are a number of end-notes that only point out remaining difficult passages that could easily have been put on the page where they occur. An insult to a great master of the past.

Good read.

As hard as it is to put Greek meter into English it is safe to say that this among the best attempts. The choral odes are brought to life in an immaculate manner and the notes and introduction provide more than enough context.