Ion, Helen, Orestes

"Diane Arnson Svarlien's lively and accessible translations give an excellent sense of Euripides' poetic resources, from his artful blend of conversational idiom and high style, to his powerful displays of rhetoric and emotion, to the expressive rhythms and images of his songs. They are sure to delight readers and listeners alike. Moreover, they have been shaped by judicious use of the best and latest scholarship. The plays in this volume will surprise readers used to tragedy on the Aristotelian pattern and stimulate reflection about what tragedy is and what it is for."
     —John Gibert, Department of ClassicsUniversity of Colorado, Boulder

SKU
27908g

Euripides
Translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien
Introduction and Notes by Matthew Wright

June 2016 - 368 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth (no dust jacket) 978-1-62466-481-6
$39.95
Paper 978-1-62466-480-9
$13.00
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-1-62466-480-9
$2.00

eBook available for $11.25. Click HERE for more information.

An acclaimed translator of Euripidean tragedy in its earlier and more familiar modes, Diane Arnson Svarlien now turns to three plays that showcase the special qualities of Euripides’ late dramatic art. Like her earlier volumes, Ion, Helen, Orestes offers modern, accurate, accessible, and stageworthy versions that preserve the metrical and musical form of the originals. Matthew Wright’s Introduction and notes offer illuminating guidance to first-time readers of Euripides, while pointing up the appeal of this distinctive grouping of plays.

 

Reviews:

"Diane Arnson Svarlien's lively and accessible translations give an excellent sense of Euripides' poetic resources, from his artful blend of conversational idiom and high style, to his powerful displays of rhetoric and emotion, to the expressive rhythms and images of his songs. They are sure to delight readers and listeners alike. Moreover, they have been shaped by judicious use of the best and latest scholarship. The plays in this volume will surprise readers used to tragedy on the Aristotelian pattern and stimulate reflection about what tragedy is and what it is for."
     —John Gibert, Department of Classics, University of Colorado, Boulder

 

"The translation of Orestes is not just readable, but so pleasurable that I found myself stopping to read passages aloud. . . . The infamous line 285 (Orestes, Greek 279) which the actor mangled hilariously is cleverly translated, but I will not spoil the reader's fun by disclosing it here. . . . Most impressive and pleasing are the rhythms of both dialogue and, especially, odes and other sung passages. . . . Music, metre, and performance are well served everywhere in the versions, the introduction and notes. . . . As a textbook for college level courses onwards, the volume is excellent: notes and introduction are especially helpful on contemporary philosophy and theology, recurring motifs, parallels to other plays and stage effects. . . . The translator's preface and the translation themselves are full of passion and humor, enjoyment and love of language (English and Greek). Both contributors are at pains to make not only the scripts, but also the scholarship accessible to interested readers who are not professional
Classicists. . . . I recommend these plays, all of which offer revisionist takes on the traditional stories, and these engaging translations to both readers and teachers in our era of 'alternative realities.'"
    —Cecelia Luschnig, University of Idaho, in The Classical Review

 

Scenes from Diane Arnson Svarlien's translation of Ion, Helen and Orestes as read by actors Ryan Case and Adam Luckey:

Xuthus (Adam Luckey) tells Ion (Ryan Case) that Ion is his son:

 

Helen and Menelaus assess their situation:

 

Messenger speech from Helen:

 

Orestes and Pylades:

 

Euripides, Helen 167ff, music by Jerise Fogel, based on the translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien (Ion, Helen, Orestes, Hackett Publishing, 2016). Photographs by Joanna Madloch from Jerise Fogel's production of Helen at Montclair State University (April 20-22, 25, and 27, 2017):

 

For musical score for songs from this production, please contact J. Fogel at Montclair State University: fogelj@mail.montclair.edu.

 

About the Authors:

Diane Arnson Svarlien earned her PhD in Classics at The University of Texas at Austin and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Matthew Wright is Associate Professor of Classics, University of Exeter.