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Iphigenia in Aulis

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High King Agamemnon faces the most crushing dilemma of his life. Kill his beloved eldest daughter? Or forfeit victory in the Trojan War? A father’s secret plot clashes with a girl’s romantic dreams in this chilling classic play from Ancient Greece.

The most powerful dramatic script by EURIPIDES springs to life anew in a fresh adaptation by writer EDWARD EINHORN (Paradox in Oz, Fractions in Disguise, The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein) with AGE OF BRONZE art by Eisner Award-winning ERIC SHANOWER (AGE OF BRONZE, Oz Graphic Novels, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland).

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 406

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About the author

Euripides

2,591 books1,549 followers
(Greek: Ευριπίδης )
Euripides (Ancient Greek: Εὐριπίδης) (ca. 480 BC–406 BC) was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles). Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias. Eighteen of Euripides' plays have survived complete. It is now widely believed that what was thought to be a nineteenth, Rhesus, was probably not by Euripides. Fragments, some substantial, of most of the other plays also survive. More of his plays have survived than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because of the chance preservation of a manuscript that was probably part of a complete collection of his works in alphabetical order.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euripides

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews
Profile Image for Manny.
Author 34 books14.8k followers
Want to read
November 28, 2017
Colin Farrell seems to have it all. He's a successful cardiologist, he gets to have necrophilic sex with Nicole Kidman every night, and his beautiful daughter has just started menstruating. Unfortunately, he's about to discover that he's walked into a Greek tragedy.

(If this doesn't make sense, go watch The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It still won't make sense, but you'll be confused in a more enjoyable way).
Profile Image for Marquise.
1,802 reviews892 followers
June 7, 2022
I've always preferred the Sophoclean and Aeschylan versions to the Euripidian one not just because I consider the former two, especially Sophocles, wrote it much better but also because of the ending, as unlike the other tragedians, Euripides changed the ending to have Iphigenia survive the sacrifice. That, to me, took away from the tragedy of it all. The sheer unfairness of the sacrifice, the difficult decision Agamemnon has to make that'll cost him his marriage and the enmity of his wife, the hatred and justification for Clytemnestra to murder her husband, Electra's blind love for her father, etc., lose their punch if it turns out Iphigenia was saved on the last minute and spirited away to the Taurians. The whole curse on the House of Atreus also reads diminished. Even the "One man's life is worth ten thousand lives of women" line Einhorn talks a bit about in the afterword has far more impact when Iphigenia actually dies, I would think.

Euripides liked to subvert and go against the grain, but he didn't always consider the bigger picture when writing his retellings with a twist, methinks, and he often didn't care for consistency and avoiding contradictions. Einhorn tries to make more sense of this interpretation of Iphigenia's story by adapting Euripides' play to get an emphasis on Iphigenia's going from sacrifice to willing martyrdom on her part, as it says on the afterword. He's made the play simpler in language, more fluid to read, and more accessible, pairing his translation with illustrations by Eric Shanower, who did the "Age of Bronze" adaptation of the Iliad.

I don't think this works so well as an illustrated version of the play, basically a picture book adaptation, because this work is one of those that are better "seen" than "read." There's a stage play of Einhorn's translation already, so for a book version it would've worked much better to have this be a graphic novel like "Age of Bronze," instead of having illustrations inserted here and there, sometimes superfluously so. Besides, the illustrations are too similar in overall appearance to Shanower's other work, with the same buxom females with too perfect features that look like they have make up on. It doesn't add pathos or gravity to the scenes, and can be distracting. I have seen Greek epics at the theatre, and they're an experience for the senses that the written text can't transmit no matter the quality of the artwork.

I received an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.


Profile Image for Jenny.
196 reviews56 followers
April 27, 2016
"Ένα λόγο μονάχα θα πω και θα νικήσω·
γλυκιά η ζωή κι ο θάνατος μαυρίλα·
είναι τρελός όποιος ποθεί το θάνατο.
Κάλλιο πικρή ζωή,παρά καλή θανή."

Profile Image for Angie.
215 reviews42 followers
January 23, 2022
Agamemnon: I'm so sad.
Old Man: Yo, what's up?
Agamemnon: Helen, that hot chick from Troy, picked my brother Menelaus to marry. But Paris stole her. Now we gots to get her back, but some prophet said that we can't leave to do that until I kill my daughter Iphigenia!
Old Man: Uh... okay.
Agamemnon: Take this letter to my wife. I sent her one already that lied and said that I was marrying Iphigenia to the hot dude Achilles, but this one says it was all a lie and not to come here. I don't want to kill my daughter.

Menelaus: What's this? A letter?
Old Man: No! Give it back!
Menelaus: *reads the letter* That bastard!
Old Man: Agamemnon! Help!

Agamemnon: What is going on?
Menelaus: You tell me.
Agamemnon: Uhh... why do you have my letter?
Menelaus: A-HA! You're going back on your promise to kill your daughter! You're a lying bastard!
Agamemnon: Yeah, well... at least I don't have a whore for a wife!
Menelaus: You were never a good leader at all! No one can count on you. Greece is going to lose to Troy and I will never get my wife back because you won't kill your daughter.
Agamemnon: You are married to a whore and you would have a young girl slain just to get your wife back! Why should I kill my daughter, who has nothing to do with the whole mess, just so you can keep a whore?
Menelaus: Grrr.
Agamemnon: Grrr back at you.

Messenger: Iphigenia and her mother, your wife Clytemnestra have arrived!
Agamemnon: Oh, shit.

Menelaus: Yo, dude. Wait. I totally see your point now. Let's not kill Iphigenia, k?
Agamemnon: Whoa, dude... I didn't expect this. Um, too bad that I decided that I am going to sacrifice her after all. Otherwise, the guys that I told about the sacrifice would be pissed at me and would probably kill me.

Iphigenia: I love you, daddy!
Agamemnon: I love you too.
Iphigenia: I am blessed to be married to Achilles!
Agamemnon: *drops lots of hints about the fact that he's actually going to kill her*

Clytemnestra: So who is this Achilles?
Agamemnon: A good man.
Clytemnestra: Okay, let me handle the wedding stuff.
Agamemnon: No, no, no-- go home to be with your other daughters, I'll take care of everything.
Clytemnestra: Uh... the domestic realm is MY realm, thank you very much. You can't stop me.
Agamemnon: Oh, shit.

Achilles: I am Achilles!
Clytemnestra: Oh. Hello, Achilles.
Achilles: What's up?
Clytemnestra: Nothing, just preparing for your wedding to my daughter.
Achilles: What? I am not being married.
Clytemnestra: What? Yes you are.
Achilles: Am not.
Clytemnestra: Oh, shit.

Old Man: Yo, guys. C'mere. Agamemnon just lied; he's going to sacrifice Iphigenia. He sent a letter telling you not to come, but his brother took it.
Clytemnestra: Damn him!
Achilles: I will not allow your daughter to die; let me be a man and protect her!
Clytemnestra: Okay.

Agamemnon: Let us prepare Iphigenia!
Clytemnestra: Uh... I have a bone to pick with you.
Agamemnon: Go ahead.
Clytemnestra: Are you trying to kill our daughter?
Agamemnon: What makes you think such a thing?!
Clytemnestra: Are you trying to kill her, or not?
Agamemnon: Oh, shit. Yes, I am. Sorry.
Clytemnestra: You bastard. You took me into marriage by force, I gave you children, treated you well even though you were a bastard, and you repay me by killing our first-born child? To honor some whore?
Agamemnon: *gulps*

Iphigenia: Don't kill me! A lowly virgin am I.
Agamemnon: Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Clytemnestra and Iphigenia: *weep*

Achilles: A mob is coming!
Clytemnestra: What?
Achilles: I tried to tell them they wouldn't kill Iphigenia and they stoned me. They are coming to kill her themselves.
Clytemnestra: Oh noes!
Achilles: Don't worry; I'll protect her!

Iphigenia: No, you won't. I am sacrificing myself.
Clytemnestra: WHAT??
Iphigenia: It is an honor to sacrifice myself for Greece. I'll be like, famous and shit. To the altar!

later...

Messenger: Extra! Extra!
Clytemnestra: What now?
Messenger: Your daughter is alive.
Clytemnestra: What? How?
Messenger: She went to sacrifice herself and when the priest went to slit her throat, everyone looked away. When they turned back, there was a deer killed in her place.
Clytemnestra: Joy!
Messenger: But your daughter is still gone. But she's at least still alive, right?
Clytemnestra: WTF?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Richard Derus.
3,153 reviews2,081 followers
July 7, 2022
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review
: A graphic-novel adaptation of the basic story of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

dramatis personae from age-of-bronze.com

I don't really know what else to say; if you haven't read those stories, or haven't seen the innumerable retellings in such media as exist then you've got one helluva learning curve ahead. This graphic version will, I suppose, do nicely to get you into the story. The idea that Agamemnon was required to kill his own child for a war against his sister-in-law's little bit on the side. It's a stupid reason to go to war, and the cost of it was staggering.

The art is, as you'd expect from Eric Shanower, convincing and technically accomplished. The story is adapted from Euripides by playwright Edward Einhorn. His success or failure is a matter of personal taste; I liked it fine.

Familiar or unfamiliar as you may be with the source material, it's a fantastic and worthy project, executed well, and solidly entertaining.
Profile Image for Teresa.
1,492 reviews
June 23, 2019
IFIGÉNIA: ver esta luz do dia é o que há de mais doce;
e debaixo da terra é o nada; é louco quem anseia morrer.
Melhor é viver mal que bem morrer.


— Mito
Ifigénia foi sacrificada, em prol da GUERRA, pelo pai, Agamémnon, para que bons ventos levassem os barcos de Áulide para Tróia.

— Realidade
Carlos Alberto Pais de Almeida, aluno distinto de Filologia Clássica da Faculdade de Letras de Coimbra, no ano lectivo 1968-1969, estudou, traduziu e comentou esta peça como tese de licenciatura. Não a chegou a apresentar porque foi chamado ao serviço militar, morrendo, na GUERRA, em Moçambique.

description
[Mark Rothko, Sacrifice of Iphigenia, (1942)]
Profile Image for Nikola Jankovic.
585 reviews120 followers
March 28, 2021
"Pup nemoj zgazit - slast je gledat sunca sjaj -
I ne sili me, svijet pod zemljom da vidim!
Ja prva zvah te ocem, kćerkom mene ti;
Ta tebi prva koljenu priljubih se
I milovah te, a ti meni uzvrati."


Prvi deo Eshilove trilogije Orestija (Agamemnon), govori o Klitemnestrinom ubistvu muža. Čekala ga je 10 godina da se vrati kao slavni pobednik Trojanskog rata, a presudila mu sekirom isto veče. Vreme neke stvari ne leči - žrtvovanje ćerke Ifigenije je jedna od tih.

Euripid piše o tom događaju. Ifigenija je na prevaru dovedena u Aulidu, gde Artemida sprečava hiljade grčkih brodova da otplove za Troju, sve dok Agamemnon ne prinese najtežu žrtvu. Ali zašto? Zbog čega isto to Bog traži od Avrama? U čemu je fora takve žrtve, nije jasno ni nama a ni Grcima.
"I vojska je na okupu, u redu sva,
U Aulidi sjedimo, vjetra ni otkud,
U bijedi ovoj reče nama Kalhant vrač,
Kćer neka rođenu - da, Ifigeniju
Artemidi, što krajem vlada, žrtvujem,
I na put ćemo moći, zatrt Frižane."


Kralj najpre ne želi ("Jer kćerke ubit nikad neću moći ja"), ali se predomišlja i pristaje na grozno delo, iz kombinacije patriotizma (sve za Heladu) i kukavičluka ("Raspalit on će vojsku svu, Argivci tebe, mene će na zapovijed pogubit, zaklat kćer").

Tu je i Klitemnestra, koja je Ifigeniju dovela na lažno venčanje, a sad treba da je gleda kako umire. Porodična tragedija par ekselans. Na kraju, Euripid je ublažava - Ifigenija sama odlučuje da treba da umre, ljubi je tata - i ne samo to. Neposredno pre nego što joj mač na žrtvenom kamenu preseče vrat, u Euripidovoj verziji Artemida menja Ifigeniju košutom, a devojku odnosi sa sobom. Klitemnestri to izgleda nisu javili, otišla je da oštri sekiru.

"Čuj me, majko, što u misli meni dođe na pamet!
Mrijet odlučih, ali to baš slavno izvest želim ja -
Iz srca ću kinit svaki neplemenit osjećaj.
Na me svekolika velika sad gleda Helada,
I do mene stoji lađam' put, a propast Frižana.
Budu l' ubuduće ženam zasjedali barbari,
Više neće ih otimat iz sretne Helade,
Sve to moja smrt će spriječit, a slave će moje sjaj,
Jer slobodu Heladi izvojštih, dovijek sretno sjat.
Od tisuću žena vrijedi više jedan junak živ."


Festival grčke tragedije (za jednog gledaoca)
Otac u čitaocu ne želi da prepozna zašto je Agamemnon ovo učinio, ali ipak su delovi kad najpre objašnjava zašto NE, a onda i zašto DA, sjajni. Za razliku od Car Edipa, na primer, gde tragična sudbina junaka dolazi kao deo sudbine, ovde je tragedija posledica potpune slobodne volje junaka (kao i u Antigona, gde ona odlučuje da sahrani brata, uprkos svemu).

I tako, Euripid se probija na drugo mesto. A tek sledi Medea.

1. Car Edip (Sofokle)
2. Iphigenia in Aulis (Euripid)
3. Agamemnon (Eshil)
4. Antigona (Sofokle)
5. Eumenides (Eshil)
6. Bahantkinje (Euripid)
7. The Libation Bearers (Pokajnice - Eshil)
8. Oedipus at Colonus (Sofokle)
Profile Image for david.
455 reviews3 followers
March 11, 2020
It made me cry.

It upset me.

A play by Euripides from 500 B.C.E. or so.

This reader has read Greek tragedies before but for some reason, this one ambushed.

We are so messed up. We are so fragile. Trauma is never far away. Tragedy can enter through any window or door or vent at any time.

Yes, it was a bit melodramatic. Yes, it may not have been completed by the man himself, his last work.

It’s about a father, a mother, a daughter, a son, a brother.

It’s about war and power. Always war and power. Why?

It’s about family dysfunction. Blood does not create love.

Often, we navigate a shared animus with the people we have lived with during the first phase of our lives. We do not always play nice.

It’s about each one of us.

It’s about the expectations we allow ourselves that do not materialize.

It’s about surrender.

It’s about personal needs and how it may conflict with the desires of others.

It’s about the desires of others and how we misinterpret it because they are not us.

We are not them.

A need to inspect and magnify our immanence. Continuously.

Humans break often.

And we attempt to repair.

But we cannot undo, unsee what we have experienced.

We carry our sufferings under our masks so as not to show vulnerability, distress, hurt, sadness to others.

Others who carry a similar load.

Why?
Profile Image for Reza.
38 reviews9 followers
February 5, 2019
امتیاز دادن به این نمایشنامه اوریپید کار مسخره ایه، از این نظر که پایانش به دست ما نرسیده (یا اصلا نوشته نشده) و نسخه ای که ازش مونده مملو از اضافات و حذفیات مختلف بوسیله فرزند اوریپید و دیگرانه.
به هر حال اون چیزی که مونده ترکیبیه از بخش های شاهکار و کلیشه های تکراری اوریپید. بخشی که ایفیگنی در مسلخ خودش به اشتباه فرض میکنه که در مراسم ازدواجش هستش و همسرایان براش سرود میخونن جزو شاهکارهای تراژدی های یونانیه، جایی که تراژدی با درگیری تقدیر شوم و معصومیت زنانه/کودکانه کوبنده تر میشه (نمونه اش در فصلی از زنان تروایی که هکوبا برای آینده نوه اش که لحظاتی بعد کشته خواهد شد، تصمیم میگیره)
اما در پایان تراژدی، طبق معمول، زنان اوریپید در حساس ترین لحظه درام ناگهان تصمیم به ایثار خود در راستای بقای شوهر/پدر/خانواده/ملت میگیرن و با مونولوگی انباشته از شعار از تصمیمی که در راستای قربانی کردن خود گرفتن، حمایت میکنن. در اینجا هم ایفیگنی، دختر آگاممنون، که در ابتدا کودکی وحشت زده است، به این نتیجه میرسه که فدا کردن خود در راستای مام میهن ارزشمندترین کاریه که یک زن میتونه بهش دست بزنه. حالا اینکه چطور یه دختر بچه میتونه به این نتیجه برس�� الله اعلم!
Profile Image for Helga.
1,073 reviews227 followers
December 14, 2021

None of mortals is prosperous or happy to the last, for none was ever born to a painless life.

Written between 408 and 406 BC, the play revolves around Agamemnon's decision to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis in order to be able to set sail and fight against Troy.
Profile Image for max theodore.
512 reviews179 followers
November 20, 2022
some things about this play that make me feel fucking insane:

-> that achilles is so naive here. this isn't the achilles of the iliad. we can see how he gets there (and we'd better be able to see it, because euripides was writing after homer), but we can also tell he's far younger and far more naive, a man trained as a weapon who has yet to see innocent blood start spilling. (he is also such a little freak lmfao. "keep in mind one simple fact: i never lie" okay you weird little demigod murder machine)

-> clytemnestra begging agamemnon not to kill their daughter and alluding to the murder everyone knows is coming after this play. and BEGGING him not to do it, because then she'll have to do it. "for the gods' sakes, don't force me to take this hard line against you, or force yourself to do the same to me," she says, and she's saying: don't make me do this. don't make me do this to you. because if you sacrifice my daughter, i know how i am going to answer, and i don't want you to make me do it.
AGAMEMNON: A dangerous glory, and ambition however sweet lies close to grief.

-> the fact that agamemnon KNOWS IT'S COMING. he knows that if he does this he's doomed. he knows. and he can't bear the idea of killing his own daughter. but he also doesn't have a CHOICE!!! the agamemnon lines in this play made me CRAZY like this man's entire deal is not having a choice because the gods have backed him into a corner but then he somehow still makes the worst choice despite not having one
AGAMEMNON: I am clamped to a doom I cannot shake off.

-> that iphigenia doesn't speak for herself for the first half of the play. which is probably partially an actor constraint thing, but still, ouch. she's at the center of everything, she's the titular character, and her silence drives home how much she's just a pawn in the war effort, passed between her mother and her father and achilles and the army alike.

-> and then when she DOES speak, she draws on a heroic code worthy of any greek warrior. in aeschylus's description of her death, the men have to drag her kicking and screaming and gagged to the altar. but here she decides to die for the glory of greece. yeah, she's making an Uwu Womanly Sacrifice For The Men, but she's also choosing to start the trojan war. she's dying knowing full damn well she's the reason it's happening at all, and they're going to remember her name forever.
IPHIGENIA: So sacrifice me and sack Troy. That will be my memorial through the ages. That will be my marriage, my children, and my fame. ... Conduct me as a sacker of cities.


anyway. bites wires (translations read: paul roche)
Profile Image for Bogdan Raț.
160 reviews56 followers
February 21, 2021
Iphigenia: Te-avânți pe-o cale lungă, tată, și mă lași.
Agamemnon: Vom fi cândva iar impreună, fata mea.
Iphigenia: Ia-mă, dacă se cade, cu tine pe corăbii.
Agamemnon: Vei traversa și tu o apă, cu gândul îndreptat spre mine.
Iphigenia: Cu mama laolaltă sau singură pluti-voi?
Agamemnon: Doar singură, desprinsă de tată și de mamă.
Iphigenia: Deci, tată, mă vei așeza în altă vatră?
Profile Image for Jemidar.
211 reviews155 followers
July 29, 2016

This play premiered in Athens in 405BC and is about an incident that took place at Aulis before the the armies of Hellas could set sail for the Trojan War.

This isn't a tragedy as we would normally think of them, as in Shakespeare's tragedies where bodies litter the stage by the final scene but it is a tragedy nonetheless despite the apparent 'happy' ending. I've heard it argued that this is a tragedy in the way Aristotle defined them, where someone has to make a choice, a difficult & horrible choice where they are doomed whatever they decide to do. Previously only having seen the movie version (Iphigenia, 1977) of this play which ends somewhat ambiguously I would've probably disagreed, but now having read the text I agree wholeheartedly.

The main players Agamemnon, Menelaus, Clytemnestra, Achilles and Iphigenia herself all have to grapple with an unthinkable situation which one cannot think will end well. There are many conversations about leadership, family, duty, religion and morality along the way but this is essentially Agamemnon's tragedy (if we follow Aristotle's definition) rather than Iphigenia's (as suggested by the title) because as a Greek king and father he has the final say. Having said that, it goes without saying all 21st century sensibilities should be checked at the door before picking up the text.

Be warned, the ancient Greek playwrights much preferred to tell rather than show so all of the action takes place off stage and is carried forth mainly by messengers. However I found the subject matter and dramatic writing enough to keep my interest despite this.

Lastly, I personally wouldn't recommend this particular translation. It's not bad but I'm sure there are better ones out there.

Profile Image for Anisha Inkspill.
443 reviews46 followers
September 14, 2019
In reading this again I noticed how much info I missed when reading it last year. Previously, I had not grasped the patriotism that runs through this play, turning over the last page I remembered the lines from a Wilfred Owen poem:
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
Dulce et Decorum Est

I also found the introduction essay in this edition confirming this helpful. The story is heart-breaking, especially the long speeches from Clytemnestra and Iphigenia. In Clytemnestra’s monologues, when she argues hard why her husband Agamemnon should not sacrifice their daughter, made me rethink her later actions of which Orestes avenges (covered in a play by Euripides of this name along with his Electra, Aeschylus’s Orestia and Sophocles’ Electra ).

I enjoyed reading this edition for gaining the understanding of how knowing about the House of Atreus gives better context to the story of Troy. Although, I would choose Don Taylor’s translation (published by Methuen), where the rhyming scheme gives the text a more enjoyable read for me but I found reading both editions added the richness I was looking for as I continue my journey to read old stories and myths.

comparing extracts with Taylor’s translation
coming soon
Profile Image for Jacqueline Knirnschild.
136 reviews15 followers
December 27, 2022
There are so many modern “feminist retellings” of Greek mythology, especially with a focus on the Trojan War (Natalie Haynes, Pat Barker, Jennifer Saint), and many of these modern books claim to have been written due to a dearth of women-centric ancient stories, which baffles me—have y’all never heard of Euripides’s “The Trojan Women” or what about his plays “Iphigenia at Aulis,” “Medea,” and “Iphigenia in Taurus” And “Antigone” by Sophocles ?? All of these plays, written in the 5th century B.C., center around women and I would argue are more feminist than many of the modern stuff being churned out today.

Just because a book was written by a woman and is about a woman doesn’t automatically make it a feminist retelling. Reimagining a story to highlight the heroic acts of a female protagonist IS what makes something a feminist retelling, and that is exactly what Euripides does with “Iphigenia at Aulis.” Instead of being portrayed as a passive victim without agency (as she was portrayed in Madeline Miller’s “Song of Achilles”), Iphigenia is portrayed as a noble heroine among a cast of bumbling and hysterical characters.
Profile Image for David Sarkies.
1,844 reviews329 followers
August 29, 2018
One Final Play
29 August 2018 – Sydney

Well, as it turns out, this was Euripides’ last play, the reason being that he died before he could finish it. This is sort of a bit of a turn of events where Greek plays are concerned because most of the time the reason we don’t have the plays is because they have been lost (you can probably blame Julius Caeser for that, among other people, but then again the Great Library did seem to be a bit of a fire magnet). However, just because he didn’t finish it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily incomplete, namely because somebody else came along at a later date and decided to fix up what Euripides didn’t get to do. The problem is that when you have situations where a genius dies and his work is incomplete, basically anybody who comes along to finish it off is basically going to do an incredibly shoddy job – this was the case with Herge’s final Tintin album.

So, this play is basically about the time when the Greeks are trying to get to Troy but the gods seem to be against them because, well, the winds are blowing in the wrong direction. That can be a bit of a problem when all you have are ships that are powered by sail. Well sort of since not only were they powered by sail, but they were also powered by the fact that they also had lots of people with really strong arms pushing and pulling on the oars in unison (slaves if you will, but I don’t think the people who staffed the oars were slaves in every instance, but then again this is ancient Greek drama, so the normal people basically don’t matter anyway).

You could say that this is a tragedy namely because the events here in Aulis basically resulted in the whole mess that Orestes landed up in, though if we follow through his life we learn that he was a pretty hot headed individual anyway. However, the story isn’t so much about Orestes, but rather about Agamemnon, his daughter Iphigenia, and a few others – Clytemnestra probably shouldn’t be forgotten because she does happen to be Agamemnon’s wife.

Well, long suffering Clytemnestra – it turns out that Agamemnon wasn’t her first husband, and the reason that she is the wife of Agamemnon is because he basically killed her first husband and took her as his wife. Gee, I sense a bit of hypocrisy here since I get the impression that while it was okay for him to steal somebody’s wife, when Paris did the same thing to his brother, the entire Greek nation gets up in arms and goes to war. Then again Paris wasn’t Greek, and even today there is still a lot of people who are incredibly uncomfortable with inter-racial marriage, especially when they happen to marry one of us white barbarians.

The thing is that Agamemnon is being pretty sneaky. Then again if he had went to his wife and said ‘can you send our daughter to me, I have to sacrifice her so that Artemis will change the direction of the winds’ I suspect that he wouldn’t have received a positive reply. So, instead, he says that he has arranged for her to be married. Well, sort of because it ends up being a lie, namely because he did actually want to sacrifice her so that Artemis would change the direction of the winds. Talk about a dedicated man – this guy is willing to sacrifice his own daughter to save the unfaithful wife of his brother. Then again, as some have suggested, there is the whole oath that they swore to defend Helen’s, or should I say Menelaus’, honour. Or was it, there is also the suggestion that Helen really was just an excuse to destroy a powerful city at the entrance to some very important trade routes – hey, it isn’t as if anybody else has gone to war based upon some really flimsy proposition.

Actually, let us consider the anti-war aspects here for a second, because there are some, particularly with Agamemnon wanting to sacrifice his daughter. The thing is that I never really thought about the whole idea of sacrifice when I initially read the play, but while this whole ‘oh, no, he’s going to sacrifice his daughter’ mentality, we sometimes forget that there are a whole bunch of men, somebodies son nonetheless, who are also going to be sacrifice into the meat grinder that happens to be a war. Funnily enough, these young men tend to be the ones who end up in the firing line, while the kings and commanders, the important people if you will, usually end up sitting the whole thing out from a tend at the top of a hill. You know, we can’t have the generals in the firing line because who is going to lead the men otherwise. Well, it seems that this didn’t particularly bother Alexander, or Napoleon.

Still, we shouldn’t forget that this is Ancient Greece that we are talking about, and as it happens, these guys are going to be in the thick of battle – we know that from the Iliad. However, I guess Euripides is drawing on the fact that while wars are played out between the kings and the generals, the pieces they are fought with armies, and it is the individuals who make up these armies that end up being the ones who suffer the consequences, and in fact they happen to be the ones that never come home. Does that make the generals and kings cowards though? I guess that is a question that I’ll leave up in the air for the time being because it does raise some interesting thoughts.

Well, the story is great, but the play itself, well, honestly, I can’t tell which is Euripides and which isn’t, but then again I read the English and not the Greek, and even though I sort of understand Greek, I certainly am not fluent in it so I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyway. Actually, I suspect that you have to have a pretty good eye, and also a pretty good understanding of the author’s style, to be able to pick up some of these differences. Honestly, while I do like my books, I’m certainly not that good that I’d be able to spot such things.
Profile Image for Giorgia.
Author 3 books738 followers
May 14, 2021
A volte il proprio destino è già stato scritto dagli Dei, e non c'è nulla che possa contrastarlo. In questa tragedia di Euripide "la profezia che si autoavvera" fa da padrona nel destino della giovane Ifigenia: donna ingenua, ma anche devota e più coraggiosa di Agamennone stesso, incapace di prendere una scelta. Ho apprezzato che qui il condottiero sia stata rappresentato in una sua versione molto più umana e realistica, anziché spietata come di consueto.
Profile Image for Manuel Alfonseca.
Author 75 books174 followers
November 30, 2022
ESPAÑOL: Esta es mi obra favorita entre las de Eurípides, de las quince que he visto o leído, junto con Medea, aunque por razones bastante diferentes. Esta vez la he visto en el archivo de Estudio-1, aunque se trataba de una adaptación libre, pues han retocado el final y algunos de los personajes desempeñan el papel de otros en la obra original. Pero en conjunto esta versión no está mal.

Para dejar abierta la posibilidad de una continuación (Ifigenia en Tauride), Eurípides termina la obra diciendo que Ifigenia se salvó milagrosamente cuando Artemisa la reemplazó como víctima por una cierva blanca. En esta versión, Agamenón afirma que hubo milagro, pero que lo vieron pocas personas. Es obvio para el lector que está mintiendo.

Ifigenia en Aulide es la más humana de las tragedias de Eurípides. En este sentido, se parece a mi obra favorita entre las de Sófocles: Antígona. En conjunto, me gusta algo más Sófocles que Eurípides.

ENGLISH: This is my favorite Euripides play, among the fifteen I've watched or read, along with Medea, for quite different reasons. This time I have watched it in the Estudio-1 archive, although it was a free adaptation, since they have tidied up the ending and some of the characters play the role of others in the original play. But overall this version is not bad.

To open the possibility of writing a sequel (Ifigenia in Tauride), Euripides ends the play asserting that Ifigenia was saved by a miracle when Artemis replaced her as victim by a white doe. In this version, Agamemnon states that there was a miracle, but it was seen by just a few people. It's obvious to the reader that he's lying.

Iphigenia in Aulide is the most humane of the tragedies by Euripides. In this sense, it is similar to my favorite work among those of Sophocles: Antigone. On the whole, I like Sophocles somewhat better than Euripides.
Profile Image for Mert.
Author 3 books69 followers
September 25, 2020
Puanım 4/5 (%76/100)

“Kısa ve öz konuşarak kendini güzel tanıttın,
ama ben kadınlarla konuşmaya utanırım.”

Iphigenia Truva Savaşı’nda savaşmış ünlü komutan Agamemnon’un kızıdır. Bir kehanet sebebiyle savaşı kazanmak için Agamemnon’un kızını kurban etmesi gerekir. Tanrıların isteği olduğu ve kızını vatanı ve askerleri önünde tutmaması gerektiği halde Agamemnon kendi öz kızını kurban etmek istemez. Kardeşi ve ünlü Helen’in eşi olan Menelaus ise kurbanın gerekli olduğunu söyler. Olaylar gelişir ve Agamemnon da kurbanın gerekli olduğuna karar verir. Fakat bu sefer Menelaus yeğenini ölmesini istemez. Agamemnon karısı Klytaimnestra’ya Iphigenia ile birlikte Aulis’e gelmesi için mektup yollar. Iphigenia’nın ünlü savaşçı Akhilleus ile evleneceği yalanını ortaya atar. Anne kız Aulis’e gelir fakat haberler Akhilleus’un kulağına gitmiştir. Agamemnon’un böyle davranmasına öfkelenen Akhilleus Iphigenia’yı korumaya yemin eder. Akhilleus’un askerleri Myrmidonlar bile kurbanın gerekli olduğunu düşündüğü için komutanlarının üstüne yürür. Ne yapılırsa yapılsın Agamemnon ikna edilemez ve Iphenia kaderini kabullenir. Kurban edilmek için ayrılır ve sonra bir haberci aracılığıyla neler olduğunu öğreniriz. Iphigenia öldürülmek üzere sunağa yatırılır fakat o sırada Artemis kendisini gösterip onun yerine bir geyik koyup kızı kurtarır. Hikaye böyle bitiyor ve Iphigenia Tauris’te adlı kitapta devam ediyor.
Profile Image for Cynda is healing 2024.
1,339 reviews164 followers
September 23, 2022
One cannot fight the will of the gods. Ultimately they will win. This is an important lesson for Greeks citizenry from plebians to patricians. The gods require allegiance even as they make no promises to be kind to the citizenry. In this spirit, Euripides wrote/started this play for public celebration and remembrance.

Reading this play, I can see the long arm of influence this play had on Shakespeare when writing the history plays, particularly Henry V where a strong king serves the good of the commonwealth and where sometimes a young woman must be sacrificed. Menelaus is swapped and altered as Henry V while Iphigenia is swapped and altered as Joan la Pucelle. . . .possibly. . . .
Profile Image for Anisha Inkspill.
443 reviews46 followers
September 3, 2018
This was an interesting read for me as it told me why the Trojan war happened, the story here is like a prequel and has a back story to many of Iliad’s main characters.

The story itself was a touch shocking, father sacrificing his daughter to appease a god – just writing it sounds gruesome. Anyway, I did some background reading and learnt that Euripides wrote this during the Peloponnesian War, wanting to express the pointlessness of it. I read how there had been many causalities and Euripides was trying to make the point that it’s not a fine and glorious thing to die for one’s country. Anyway, no one heard him – and that war carried on.

I read a translation that is available free – it was okayish, it’s matter of factness I thought slowed down the drama. Later I would flick through a recent translation – and I thought worked better, it was dramatic. So, I hope to read this again – but one that is translated recently.
Profile Image for Alp Turgut.
415 reviews128 followers
August 8, 2017
"İphigenia Aulis’te / Iphigenia in Aulis" oyunu Truva Savaşı’na başlamadan önce Tanrı’lar tarafından istenildi diye Agammemnon’un kızı İphigenia’yı kurban etmesini konu alıyor. Oyunun sonu "deus ex machina" özelliği taşısa da ben sonunun kurban edilmesiyle bittiğini düşünüyorum. Euripides’in diğer oyunlarına nazaran özellikle konusuyla oldukça geride bir oyun; fakat olay örgüsü sürükleyici ve Truva Savaşı’nın bilinmeyen bir tarafını anlattığı için ilgi çekici. Vatan sevgisi temasının öne çıktığı oyunda İphigenia’nın kaderini vatanı için bu denli kolay kabul etmesini ben çok inandırıcı bulmadım. Yine de günümüze gelen nadir Euripides eserlerinden biri olması sebebiyle mutlaka okunması gerektiğini düşünüyorum. Tam notum 3.5 / 5.

18.07.2017
Zorlu-İstanbul, Türkiye

Alp Turgut

http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
Profile Image for Ashley Adams.
1,153 reviews35 followers
January 19, 2020
This episode in the house of Atreus is powerful indeed. Is the morally torn cast desperate and defenseless in the face of the will of the Gods? Or are they complacent and cowardly? A terribly strong antiwar statement, even if this particular translation feels a little clunky.
Profile Image for Nika Meleksishvili.
80 reviews10 followers
February 15, 2023
ანტიგონესეულად მამაცი იფიგენია პატარა (წინარე)ილიადაში.

კარგა ხანია ასე პერსონაჟი არ მომწონებია, როგორც ახლა მომეწონა იფიგენია.

ბევრი საინტერესო თემაა გახსნილი ნაწარმოებში და ყველას ვურჩევდი, ილიადის წაკითხვამდე წაეკითხათ - უკეთესად გაიგებთ სიუჟეტს, რადგან აქა-იქ მოთხრობილია ჰელენეს დაბადების, სამი ქალღმერთის განხეთქილების და ტროის ომის მიზეზის შესახებ. ძალიან მეცოდებოდა აგამემნონი, ორად გაყოფილი კარგ მამასა და კარგ მმართველს (და მენელაოსის ძმას) შორის, მაგრამ იფიგენიას უსუსურობამ (თავიდან) და შემდგომ სიძლიერემ განსაკუთრებულად მომნუსხა. ვერც კლიტემნესტრას ტრაგიკული წარსული და აწმყო დატოვებს მკითხველს გულგრილად.

არც ილიადის წაკითხვის შემდეგ იქნება ურიგო, თვალი გადაავლოთ ტრაგედიას, თუნდაც მეორედ, რადგან ბევრ პარალელს გაავლებთ ჰომეროსთან: ქალის გამო აგამემნონის მიერ შეურაცხყოფილი აქილევსი, გრძნობასა და მოვალეობას შორის გაორებული აგამემნონი, ხომალდთა კატალოგი, სიყვარულისა და ვნების დამღუპველი ბუნება, მარადიულსა და წარმავალს შორის არჩევანი, სიცოცხლის სიყვარულისა და სიკვდილის შიშის დაძლევა და ღმერთების ნება...
Profile Image for Sinem.
309 reviews178 followers
Read
June 23, 2022
adeta throwback to İlyada gibi kitap. çok beğendim, diyaloglar harika ve grek mitlerine dair güzel hikayeler var. retellingler bu kitaptan çokça beslenmiştir. Ari Çokona çevirisi mükemmel. tek eleştirim kritik bilgilerin sonnot olarak eklenmiş olması. sürekli kitabın sonuna bakmaya çalışarak okumak biraz gıcık ediyor. koşarak İphigenia Tauriste'ye başlıyorum.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
609 reviews107 followers
August 7, 2018
5/08/18 Upon reading this play again, my feelings concerning the character's actions have definitely changed.

Last I read this play I described Agamemnon as morally divided on what course he should take, but now I kinda seeing Menelaus' point - he can't stick with the decision he's made and in the end he no longer has the choice. Iphigenia, who I had previously described as choosing to sacrifice herself for Greece, really didn't have a choice either like I said she did. I imagine she put on a brave face and only described her death as something noble for the sake of her parents like she had a choice in the matter.

And Achilles' role in all of this! To him, defending Iphigenia from the mob that was the Greek army, was something he was willing to die for. Sure, he involved himself because he felt that it was wrong that his name should be used by Agamemnon without his prior consent, but he still stood by Iphigenia.

This truly is a heart-breaking play. By the end of the play, a mother and father had no choice but to watch their daughter walk to her death with a smile on her face, as if her death was a noble sacrifice.

14/06/16 I went into this book with the wrong expectations. Or rather I went into this expecting the story and characters as the online classics community tends to know them in general, which looking back on it would had provided me with one-dimensional characters and a rather weak plot-line. It certainly didn't help that the only other interpretation I've read is that of The Song of Achilles.

To put it simply, I found myself blown away by the story I found.

For in this interpretation, Agamemnon, while still extremely problematic, finds himself morally divided throughout the play. I was presented with an entirely different dynamic in the relationship between Menelaus and Agamemnon, something that I felt just wasn't present in the Iliad. I found that Clytemnestra was actually present during the events, and looking back on it why wouldn't she attend her eldest daughter's wedding? And Iphigeneia was not the damsel in distress I expected, instead at the end she chose to sacrifice herself for the sake of Greece.

Achilles, was perhaps that only one I didn't find myself surprised with as from what I can gather, what he cared most about was his honour and how Agamemnon attempted to use his name without his prior knowledge. Though he was willing to fight the army to protect her and tarnish his reputation so perhaps a bit of his humanity was shown.

The story itself is extremely tragic. A mother accompanies her daughter to what she expects to be a wedding and instead finds her husband wanting to sacrifice her daughter for the sake of the army instead. And although in the end, none of the key players wish to go through with the sacrifice as originally planned they find their hand is forced by the Greek army itself.

The mob mentality and the lethal damage that it can do shines through in the end. Instead of bringing ruin to her family the daughter allows herself to be sacrificed ignorant that her actions will lead to the downfall of the family. A family, might I add, that while they had their differences were presented as a healthy family during the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Rochellic.
46 reviews35 followers
November 4, 2022
This is a very weak play, much like his Orestes and Helen. It may well be that the original play is by now more or less lost by the countless additions and incisions made over the years, but the general structure and weak ending is I think too similar a pattern throughout his later work to be dismissed as entirely non-Euripidean. Euripidies' Clytemnestra is a pale, drab corpse compared to the fiery dominatrix that reigns in Aeschylus. More and more, he seems to me a bit of a one-hit-wonder; none of his other plays, excepting Medea perhaps, approach the zenith of the Bacchae, and remain actually very far below it.
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