An Oresteia: Agamemnon by Aiskhylos; Elektra by Sophokles; Orestes by Euripides (Paperback)
In An Oresteia, the classicist Anne Carson combines three different versions of the tragedy of the house of Atreus — A iskhylos' Agamemnon, Sophokles' Elektra and Euripides' Orestes. After the murder of her daughter Iphigeneia by her husband, Agamemnon, Klytaimestra exacts a mother's revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytaimestra's actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father's death with the help of his sister Elektra. In the end, Orestes is driven mad by the Furies for his bloody betrayal of family. Condemned to death by the people of Argos, he and Elektra must justify their actions — or flout society, justice and the gods.
Carson's translation combines contemporary language with the traditional structures and rhetoric of Greek tragedy, opening up this ancient tale of vengeance to a modern audience and revealing the essential wit and morbidity of the original plays.
Born in Eleusis, he served in the army, was wounded at Marathon (490BC) and probably fought at Salamis (480). His plays include: The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, SUppliants and the Oresteia, which comprises three plays about the murder of Agamemnon and its consequences and was his last great success on the Athenian stage (458).