Alcestis is the story of a woman who agrees, in order to save her husband's life, to die in his place. Medea is a tragedy of revenge in which Medea kills her own children, as well as their father's new wife, to punish him for his desertion. The volume begins with Cyclops, a satyr play-the only complete example of this genre to survive. Each play is preceded by an introduction.
In a general introduction Kovacs demonstrates that the biographical tradition about Euripides-parts of which view him as a subverter of morality, religion, and art-cannot be relied on. He argues that this tradition has often furnished the unacknowledged starting point for interpretation, and that the way is now clear for an unprejudiced consideration of the plays themselves.
Share This Book: