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Oresteia (Oxford World's Classics) Annotated Edition

by Aeschylus (Author), Christopher Collard (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 102 ratings
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The Oresteia is the only trilogy of tragedy plays to survive from Ancient Greece. Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and Eumenides have established the enduring themes of Greek tragedy--the inexorable nature of Fate, the relationship between justice, revenge, and religion. In this family history, Fate and the gods decree that each generation will repeat the crimes and endure the suffering of their forebears. When Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, their son Orestes must avenge his father's death. Only Orestes' appeal to the goddess Athena saves him from his mother's Furies, breaking the bloody chain; together gods and humans inaugurate a way of just conduct that will ensure stable families and a strong community.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


The Oresteia is majestic as theater and as literature, and this new translation seeks to preserve both these qualities. The introduction and notes emphasize the relationship between the scenes, ideas, and language that distinguishes this unique work.
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  1. ISBN-10
    019953781X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0199537815
  3. Edition
    Annotated
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    January 15, 2009
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7.72 x 0.76 x 5.12 inches
  8. Print length
    320 pages
  9. See all details
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oxford world's classics, literature, novels, myths, celebrated writing
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About the Author

Christopher Collard was Professor of Classics at the University of Wales, Swansea from 1975 until his retirement in 1996. He has published annotated editions of Euripides' Suppliant Women, Hecuba, and Select Fragmentary Plays

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Annotated edition (January 15, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019953781X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199537815
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ NP1380L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.72 x 0.76 x 5.12 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 102 ratings

About the author

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Aeschylus

Aeschylus

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Aeschylus (/ˈiːskᵻləs/ or /ˈɛskᵻləs/; Greek: Αἰσχύλος Aiskhulos; Ancient Greek: [ai̯s.kʰý.los]; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian. He is also the first whose plays still survive; the others are Sophocles and Euripides. He is often described as the father of tragedy: critics and scholars' knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in theater to allow conflict among them, whereas characters previously had interacted only with the chorus.

Only seven of his estimated seventy to ninety plays have survived, and there is a longstanding debate regarding his authorship of one of these plays, Prometheus Bound, which some believe his son Euphorion actually wrote. Fragments of some other plays have survived in quotes and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian papyrus, often giving us surprising insights into his work. He was probably the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy; his Oresteia is the only ancient example of the form to have survived. At least one of his plays was influenced by the Persians' second invasion of Greece (480-479 BC). This work, The Persians, is the only surviving classical Greek tragedy concerned with contemporary events (very few of that kind were ever written), and a useful source of information about its period. The significance of war in Ancient Greek culture was so great that Aeschylus' epitaph commemorates his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon while making no mention of his success as a playwright. Despite this, Aeschylus' work – particularly the Oresteia – is acclaimed by today's literary academics.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Unknown [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
102 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Steven Farron
5.0 out of 5 stars The Truest Translation
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2022
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The Oresteia stands at the peak of human creative achievement, along with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Michelangelo’s Moses, Galileo’s Two World Systems and Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
I have read the Oresteia and taught it many times in Greek and in translation. I think this is the truest translation I have ever read.
4 people found this helpful
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jdmcox
5.0 out of 5 stars Important for Greek lit
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2019
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Because it's important classic Greek literature, it was interesting for a while. I came away with the fact that it was about a family of murderers of kinfolk. But very well written and very well translated.
3 people found this helpful
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Lyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016
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thanks
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Seattle Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015
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A
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Will and Harley Markey
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2017
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Good book for class.
3 people found this helpful
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Ryan Kouroukis
5.0 out of 5 stars A Monumental Edition
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2009
This is a compelling new edition of the Oresteia. It rivals all existing Oresteia's and perhaps comes closest to Lattimore's version in accuracy and completeness of text. It is my favorite Oresteian Trilogy alongside Peter Meineck's version.

Christopher Collard preserves the intricacy of Aeschylus's language while keeping the drama moving naturally. He does not force poetry or ideas into Aeschylus nor does he subtract, edit or delete words from the text (as often is done and can be seen in Fagels's and Vellacott's translations). The poetry comes out magically by itself.

How Collard wins over Lattimore's version though is through the translation. The realism of the drama, the sentences structures, and the speeches all form naturally and normally. In Lattimore, the speeches and the drama becomes congested, contricted and (unnecessarily) complicated through how he structures the wording and poetry of Aeschylus's text. Collard does not use the tired and old fashion English like Lattimore, nor does he update the idom by using modern American English or slang. You can't really pinpoint which language style he's using, but indeed it is beautiful, readible and contemporary English. It's like he has become a transparent mouthpiece for Aeschylus and not mask of his own creation.

There are also some very intriguing and very interesting touches Collard does within the plays. Throughout are descriptive italic markings, brackets and hyphens, indicating detailed stage directions and emotive expressions. He freely uses lyric, prose, and verse in his translation as Aeschylus does in various settings and scenarios.

His is the most scholarly version as it incorporates the most up-to-date findings and research into Aeschylus and the Oresteia. From original to copied manuscripts, he compared many ancient and modern editions of the Oresteia and so some of his version includes subtle changes and slight differences when compared to other translations. He informs you of missing lines and includes passages that appear as fragments in the originals, which have been glossed over or not noticed by other translators.

His explanatory notes and introduction are immensely extensive. They include so much research and attention to detail that one wonders how one man could know so much about Aeschylus and the Oresteia!

The Contents not only have 4 incredible essays on Aeschylus and the Oresteia, but also include summaries of the plots, text & translation notes, a massive bibliography, a chronology of Aeschylus' life, family trees, and even a map of ancient Greece!

I believe it is safe to say that Christopher Collard is now the leading interpreter of Aeschylus, and a milestone in the history of Aeschylean translation and scholarship.
39 people found this helpful
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B. K. Green
5.0 out of 5 stars This Aeschylus is a Companion for Life
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2021
This is a brilliant, compelling book to read--and re-read. Christopher Collard's sure and trustworthy voice creates an instant rapport with his attentive reader. The fluent translation, accurate notes, and stimulating introduction are very clear and loaded with gems set in gold. Collard's dramatically astute, philosophically acute, and stylistically poised and pointed tone make this a bracing, invigorating oral-literary experience, and the substance of his argument cogent and irresistible. Collard's Oresteia is a rare find indeed, an unforgettable book that will live for many lifetimes. Be sure to read the first-rate, detailed reviews by Ryan Kouroukis and by The Keen Reader, both on this page.
2 people found this helpful
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Hoi L
2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2016
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boring book. Only bought it cos Prof required it.
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Jill
5.0 out of 5 stars what a journey !
Reviewed in Italy on April 14, 2022
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The Oresteia is a play trilogy performed at the annual Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BCE, and also considered Aeschylus‘ best work. I've read this tragedy during a Greek tragedies summer read-along, and I've found it extremely interesting and full of literary references related to the ancient world.

The first of the three tragedies is Agamemnon and tells the homecoming of king Agamemnon from the Trojan War, along with his concubine Cassandra, Paris’ sister and prophet of the god Apollo. His wife, Clytemnestra, alongside with Aegisthus, the lover of the queen and cousin of Agamemnon, had already planned his murder as revenge for their daughter's sacrifice, Iphigenia.

She went to her husband telling him how depressed she was while waiting for Agamemnon to return from Troy, justifying her behaviour sending their son Orestes away with a friend. The celebration for king Agamemnon begins, and she made him enter in the palace stepping on a carpet of luxurious purple tapestries, that the Gods saw as a disrespectful gesture, so angry at him, they won't protect him from his wife's revenge.

After the murder of Agamemnon, and his concubine as well, the chorus is horrified by the enormity of the crime. Clytemnestra, covered in blood, however, is in control of the situation and her final words close the tragedy, announcing that the order has returned to the palace.

In the second play, The Libation Bearers several years have passed since the assassination of Agamemnon. The queen had sent her son Orestes in exile with his companion Pylades, keeping instead his daughter Electra with her. Now an adult, Orestes has returned in secret on Apollo's order to punish his mother and her accomplice. A chorus of women dressed in black appears, The Libation Bearers, women sent by the sovereign to the tomb of Agamemnon for a propitiatory sacrifice that remove some sad omens from the queen, they are led by Electra, who recognizes his brother and together prepare a revenge plan.

Orestes pretends to be a merchant and enters the palace with Pylades; communicates to the queen the false news of the death of her son, and Clytemnestra calls Aegisthus who rushes unarmed and is easily killed. The mother asks his son for mercy who appears hesitant for a moment, but Pylades reminds him of Apollo's order and thus kills her in the same place where she killed his father.

Orestes incoherently laments his father’s death and his own guilt, and suddenly sees the Furies, vengeful goddesses who mean to punish him for Clytemnestra’s death. Terrified, he is forced to run away.

In the third and last play, The Eumenides, it opens a morning ritual of Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, interrupted by a bloodstained Orestes, followed by the Furies, who has come to her temple to be cleansed. Pythia is terrified by this sight, so the god Apollo himself takes her place, reassuring Orestes that whatever he had done, it was by his divine command, and told him to go to Athens, guided by Apollo's half-brother Hermes, where the Goddess of wisdom Athena is waiting for him to take the case.

The trial begins; the Furies claiming that Clytemnestra’s life was worth as much as Agamemnon’s, arguing with Apollo who claims the contrary, Athena agrees with his half-brother, casting the deciding vote that allows Orestes to be innocent. Athena also fears the wrath of the Furies and wisely offers them a role of patron goddesses of Athens and after some convincing, the Furies agree and took the new identity of The Eumenides━ the kindly ones.
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ZH94
5.0 out of 5 stars Great plays!
Reviewed in Canada on June 8, 2016
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I'm a huge fan of classical studies, especially things concerning Ancient Greece, and I absolutely love these plays, and have read them multiple times since getting this book. A must-read for anyone interested in Greek mythology or Greek tragedies.
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Paul ant
5.0 out of 5 stars It's The Liver Stupid: An Anti-aging and Healing Art That Really Works ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 9, 2015
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The Keen Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Aeschylus: Oresteia
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2014
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This Oxford World’s Classics (published 2008) edition of Aeschylus’ Oresteia contains the three plays – Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and Eumenides – along with copious notes and information provided by the translator Christopher Collard.

There are over 70 pages of introductory material, including analyses of:
1. Aeschylus and the Oresteia
2. A view of the Oresteia
2.1 The dramatic ideas and their sources
2.2 The dramatic design and the characters
2.3 Issues and meanings
2.4 The plays in Aeschylus’ theatre
3. Dramatic form and language in Aeschylus
3.1 Dramatic form in general
3.2 Speech and spoken dialogue
3.3 Choral song and lyric dialogue
3.4 Language and imagery
4. Aeschylus now: ‘reception’ and public response
There are also sections on a summary of the stage-action in the trilogy of plays, notes on the text and translations, explanatory notes, bibliography and further reading, a chronology of Aeschylus’ life and times, family trees of the principal characters of the Oresteia and a map showing Greece and the Aegean Sea.
Following the texts of the plays, there are copious explanatory notes on the texts (over 100 pages of notes).

Apart from the very readable translations of the texts, the author has provided a wonderfully encompassing amount of information to make the reader’s experience of the Oresteia both worthwhile and entertaining, as well as eminently accessible. This edition is highly recommended.
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Hapax
5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity at last
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2012
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I've spent several days recently working through the editions of the Oresteia in English which I already had to hand (Fagles, Thomson, Vellacott), but got little pleasure from them. The language seemed unnecessarily obscure, and the notes were inadequate to explain the significance of the action. As it's an old ambition of mine to read all the surviving Greek tragedies, I thought I'd have one final crack at these plays before moving on to Sophocles, so I ordered this Collard edition last week, though without any great hopes. I'm pleased to say it far exceeded my expectations.

To start with, the language of this translation has a lucidity sadly lacking in the others. This doesn't, however, make the text any the less 'poetic'. On the contrary, it opens access to the dense interplay of words and action, whose significance is made clear in the very full and detailed notes. The introduction is also excellent, summarizing the scholarship on Aeschylus with an assurance which confirms Collard's mastery of the subject. I'll be moving on immediately to buy his edition of the other plays of Aeschylus, and then it's Sophocles, here we come!
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