Electra by Euripides- First Produced c. 420 B.C.E. -translated by Emily Wilson 2016- This play is included in The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides-Preface, general introduction, play introductions, and compilation copyright © 2016 by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm

 
Electra by Euripides- First Produced c. 420 B.C.E. -translated by Emily Wilson 2016- This play is included in The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides-Preface, general introduction, play introductions, and compilation copyright © 2016 by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm

An Ancient Reads Work 

CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE) PEASANT, husband of Electra ELECTRA, daughter of the dead king of Argos, Agamemnon, and the wife who murdered him, Clytemnestra,ORESTES, exiled brother of Electra OLD MAN, loyal servant and long-ago tutor of Agamemnon MESSENGER CLYTEMNESTRA, mother of Electra AEGISTHUS, lover of Clytemnestra and co-murderer of Agamemnon; in possession of the throne of Argos CASTOR (with POLLUX, nonspeaking role), brothers of Helen and Clytemnestra, who have become gods PYLADES, friend of Orestes (nonspeaking role) and CHORUS of women of Argos.

"Both this Electra and the one by Sophocles —perhaps written at about the same time, though neither can be securely dated— are recastings of Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers, and both feature realistic characters who are not particularly laudable. In Euripides’ drama, both Electra and Orestes are more interested in recovering their patrimony and their aristocratic way of life than in accomplishing the justice of Zeus. They spend more time plotting the murders than summoning Agamemnon’s ghost, a reversal of the pattern by which Aeschylus had displayed the piety of his heroes." From The introduction to Electra

The play begins with a peasant giving a lengthy speech in which he explains why Electra committed her murders and their consequences. Electra's mother has forced her to marry an old peasant farmer. She must labor, her clothes are dirty and her hair is short. Only aristocrats with slaves can have the luxury of long hair. Electra is, as her mother intended, humiliated by her circumstances. The marriage is never consummated as her husband has too much respect for her to touch her. When her brother Orestes returns they do not initially recognize each other. He assumes he is a criminal and he that she is a peasant. The children of Agamemnon are criminals and the peasant, way down on the social scale, is much more an embodiment of Greek ideals than they.

"Electra and Orestes offer horrifying descriptions of how they killed their mother in the peasant’s house. They saw her bare her breast and heard her plead with them not to kill her. Electra helped the hesitant Orestes thrust his sword through their mother’s neck. Once the deed is done, they both express regret: Electra takes pity on Clytemnestra as she lies dead, putting the clothes back on the body of “our unkind kin, the enemy we loved.”".

A sense of Wilson's translation can be seen in the explanation Orestes gives as to why he has returned.

ORESTES: Ah, Pylades! My best, most loyal friend, linked by both hospitality and blood. The only one who still respected me, stuck by me when Aegisthus made me suffer. He killed my father, with my monstrous mother. I’ve been away, a visit to the god; no one in Argos knows I’ve got back here, to pay my father’s killers death for death. Last night I went to see my father’s grave, and wept for him, and gave a lock of hair, and killed a sheep, and poured blood on the fire, in secret from the powers that be— those tyrants! And I’m not setting foot inside the walls, if anybody sees me; secondly, I’m looking for my sister, since they say she’s married now and living with a husband. We’ll team up: she will help me kill those two, and help me understand what’s going on behind the walls. just coming to the borders of the land. Two reasons: first, so I can get out fast, if anybody sees me; secondly, I’m looking for my sister, since they say she’s married now and living with a husband. We’ll team up: she will help me kill those two, and help me understand what’s going on behind the walls."

There are two other translations by Emily Wilson in the collection. I also am looking forward to reading six of her translations of Seneca as well as her highly regarded recent translation of the Odyssey.

Emily Wilson is the College for Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, professor of Classical Studies, and graduate chair of the Program in Comparative Literature & Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson attended Oxford University (Balliol College B.A. and Corpus Christi College M.Phil.) and Yale University (Ph.D.). In 2006, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance & Early Modern scholarship. In 2019 she was named a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2020 she was named a Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Philadelphia with her three daughters, three cats, two rats, and one dog.

Follow Professor Wilson on Twitter @EmilyRCWilson. Professor Wilson frequently tweets about the Odyssey, translation, and her pets. From https://www.emilyrcwilson.com/

There are links to links to several articles by Wilson as well as several interviews on her website.

Mel Ulm