Bakkhai (Greek Tragedy in New Translations) - Softcover

Euripides; Gibbons, Reginald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195125983 ISBN 13: 9780195125986

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Regarded by many as Euripides' masterpiece, Bakkhai is a powerful examination of religious ecstasy and the resistance to it. A call for moderation, it rejects the temptation of pure reason as well as pure sensuality, and is a staple of Greek tragedy, representing in structure and thematics an exemplary model of the classic tragic elements.

Disguised as a young holy man, the god Bacchus arrives in Greece from Asia proclaiming his godhood and preaching his orgiastic religion. He expects to be embraced in Thebes, but the Theban king, Pentheus, forbids his people to worship him and tries to have him arrested. Enraged, Bacchus drives Pentheus mad and leads him to the mountains, where Pentheus' own mother, Agave, and the women of Thebes tear him to pieces in a Bacchic frenzy.

Gibbons, a prize-winning poet, and Segal, a renowned classicist, offer a skilled new translation of this central text of Greek tragedy.

About this title

About the Author:

Euripides (c. 480-406 BCE) was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens. Reginald Gibbons is at Northwestern University. Charles Segal is at Harvard University.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0195125983
• ISBN 13: 9780195125986
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160