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Electra (Sophocles play)

April 28, 2024

This article is about the play by Sophocles. For other uses, see Electra (disambiguation).

Electra, Elektra, or The Electra[1] (Ancient Greek: Ἠλέκτρα,[2] Ēlektra) is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes (409 BC) and the Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC) lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career. Jebb dates it between 420 BC and 414 BC.[3]

Electra
Electra and Orestes by Alfred Church
Written bySophocles
ChorusWomen of Mycenae
CharactersPaedagogus
Orestes
Electra
Chrysothemis
Clytemnestra
Aegisthus
MutePylades
Handmaid of Clytemnestra
The Attendants of Orestes
Place premieredCity Dionysia
Original languageAncient Greek
GenreTragedy
SettingMycenae, before the palace of the Pelopidae

Storyline edit

Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan War, the play tells of a bitter struggle for justice by Electra and her brother Orestes for the murder of their father Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and their stepfather Aegisthus.

When King Agamemnon returns from the Trojan War, his wife Clytemnestra (who has taken Agamemnon's cousin Aegisthus as a lover) kills him. Clytemnestra believes the murder was justified, since Agamemnon had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia before the war, as commanded by the gods. Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, rescued her younger brother Orestes from her mother by sending him to Strophius of Phocis. The play begins years later when Orestes has returned as a grown man with a plot for revenge, as well as to claim the throne.

Orestes arrives with his friend Pylades, son of Strophius, and a pedagogue, i.e. tutor (an old attendant of Orestes, who took him from Electra to Strophius). Their plan is to have the tutor announce that Orestes has died in a chariot race, and that two men (really Orestes and Pylades) are arriving shortly to deliver an urn with his remains. Meanwhile, Electra continues to mourn the death of her father Agamemnon, holding her mother Clytemnestra responsible for his murder. When Electra is told of the death of Orestes her grief is doubled, but is to be short-lived.

After a choral ode, Orestes arrives carrying the urn supposedly containing his ashes. He does not recognize Electra, nor she him. He gives her the urn and she delivers a moving lament over it, unaware that her brother is in fact standing alive next to her. Now realizing the truth, Orestes reveals his identity to his emotional sister. She is overjoyed that he is alive, but in their excitement they nearly reveal his identity, and the tutor comes out from the palace to urge them on. Orestes and Pylades enter the house and slay Clytemnestra. As Aegisthus returns home, they quickly put her corpse under a sheet and present it to him as the body of Orestes. He lifts the veil to discover who it really is, and Orestes then reveals himself. They escort Aegisthus off set to be killed at the hearth, the same location Agamemnon was slain. The play ends here, before the death of Aegisthus is announced.

Similar works edit

The story of Orestes' revenge was a popular subject in Greek tragedies.

  • There are surviving versions by all three of the great Athenian tragedians:
  • The story was also told at the end of the lost epic Nostoi (also known as Returns or Returns of the Greeks)
  • The events are also brought up in Homer's Odyssey

Reception edit

Roman writer Cicero considered Electra to be a masterpiece,[4] and the work is also viewed favorably among modern critics and scholars. In The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama, John Gassner and Edward Quinn argued that its "simple device of delaying the recognition between brother and sister produces a series of brilliant scenes which display Electra's heroic resolution under constant attack."[5] Of the titular character, Edith Hall also wrote, "Sophocles certainly found an effective dramatic vehicle in this remarkable figure, driven by deprivation and cruelty into near-psychotic extremes of behavior; no other character in his extant dramas dominates the stage to such an extent."[6] L.A. Post noted that the play was "unique among Greek tragedies for its emphasis on action."[7]

Commentaries edit

  • Davies, Gilbert Austin, 1908 (abridged from the larger edition of Richard Claverhouse Jebb)
  • Finglass, P. J., ed. (2007). Sophocles: Electra. Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 44. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86809-9. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  • Kovacs, David (August 3, 2009). "Review of Sophocles: Electra. Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 44 (2007)". Bryn Mawr Classical Review.

Translations edit

  • Edward Plumptre, 1878 – verse: (full text available at Wikisource)
  • Lewis Campbell, 1883 – verse
  • Richard C. Jebb, 1894 – prose (full text available at Wikisource)
  • Francis Storr, 1919 – verse (full text, with audio, available at Wikisource)
  • Francis Fergusson, 1938 – verse
  • E.F. Watling 1953 – prose
  • David Grene, 1957 – verse
  • H. D. F. Kitto, 1962 – verse
  • J. H. Kells, 1973 – verse (?)
  • Kenneth McLeish, 1979 – verse
  • Frank McGuinness, 1997 – verse
  • Henry Taylor, 1998 – verse
  • Anne Carson, 2001 – verse
  • Jenny March, 2001 – prose (acting edition)
  • Tom McGrath, 2003 – prose; full text
  • M. MacDonald and J. M. Walton, 2004 – verse
  • G. Theodoridis, 2006 – prose: full text
  • Eric Dugdale, 2008 – verse (acting edition)
  • Timberlake Wertenbaker, 2009
  • Nick Payne, 2011
  • Mary Lefkowitz, 2016 - verse
  • Ian C. Johnston, 2017 – verse: full text

Adaptations edit

References edit

  1. ^ Jebb, R. C. (1894). Sophocles The Plays and Fragments Part VI. The Electra. Vol. 6. Cambridge: London: C. J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge: University Press Warehouse, Ave Maria Lane. Glasgow: 363, Argyle Street. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell And Co. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. New York: Macmillan And Co. pp. Title. ark:/13960/t5v77xt8s.
  2. ^ Jebb (1894). Sophocles The Plays and Fragments Part VI. The Electra. p. 1.
  3. ^ Jebb (1894). Sophocles The Plays and Fragments Part VI. The Electra. pp. lviii.
  4. ^ Csapo, Eric; Goette, Hans Rupprecht; Green, J. Richard; Wilson, Peter (2014). Greek Theater in the Fourth Century BC. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 178. ISBN 978-3110337556.
  5. ^ Gassner, John; Quinn, Edward (2002). The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama. Courier Corporation. p. 200. ISBN 0486420647.
  6. ^ Hall, Edith (2008). Introduction. Antigone; Oedipus the King; Electra. By Sophocles. Translated by Kitto, H. D. F. Oxford University Press. p. xvii–xviii. ISBN 978-0191561108.
  7. ^ Post, L.A. (March 2, 1953). "Sophocles, Strategy, and the Electra". The Classical Weekly. 46 (10). Johns Hopkins University Press: 150–153. doi:10.2307/4343363. JSTOR 4343363.

Further reading edit

  • Duncan, A. 2005. "Gendered Interpretations: Two Fourth-Century B.C.E. Performances of Sophocles’ Electra." Helios 32.1: 55–79
  • Dunn, F. M., ed. 1996. Sophocles’ Electra in Performance. Drama: Beiträge zum antiken Drama und seiner Rezeption 4. Stuttgart: M & P Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung.
  • Griffiths, E. M. 2012. "Electra." In Brill’s Companion to Sophocles. Edited by A. Markantonatos, 73–91. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
  • Ierulli, M. 1993. "A Community of Women? The Protagonist and the Chorus in Sophocles’ Electra." Métis 8:217–229.
  • Lloyd, M. 2005. Sophocles: Electra. London: Duckworth.
  • MacLeod, L. 2001. Dolos and Dike in Sophokles’ Elektra. Mnemosyne Supplement 219. Leiden, The Netherlands, Boston, and Cologne: Brill.
  • Marshall, C. W. 2006. "How to Write a Messenger Speech (Sophocles, Electra 680–763)." In Greek Drama III: Essays in honour of Kevin Lee. Edited by J. F. Davidson, F. Muecke, and P. Wilson, 203–221. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplement 87. London: Institute of Classical Studies
  • Nooter, S. 2011. "Language, Lamentation, and Power in Sophocles’ Electra." Classical World 104.4: 399–417.
  • Segal, C. P. 1966. "The Electra of Sophocles." Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 97:473–545.
  • Sommerstein, A. H. 1997. "Alternative Scenarios in Sophocles’ Electra." Prometheus 23:193–214.

External links edit

Library resources about
Sophocles's Electra
  •   Works related to Electra (Sophocles) at Wikisource
  •   Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ἠλέκτρα
  • Sophocles' Electra at Perseus Digital Library
  •   Electra public domain audiobook at LibriVox

April 28, 2024
electra, sophocles, play, this, article, about, play, sophocles, other, uses, electra, disambiguation, electra, elektra, electra, ancient, greek, Ἠλέκτρα, Ēlektra, greek, tragedy, sophocles, date, known, various, stylistic, similarities, with, philoctetes, oed. This article is about the play by Sophocles For other uses see Electra disambiguation Electra Elektra or The Electra 1 Ancient Greek Ἠlektra 2 Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles Its date is not known but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes 409 BC and the Oedipus at Colonus 401 BC lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles career Jebb dates it between 420 BC and 414 BC 3 ElectraElectra and Orestes by Alfred ChurchWritten bySophoclesChorusWomen of MycenaeCharactersPaedagogusOrestesElectraChrysothemisClytemnestraAegisthusMutePyladesHandmaid of ClytemnestraThe Attendants of OrestesPlace premieredCity DionysiaOriginal languageAncient GreekGenreTragedySettingMycenae before the palace of the Pelopidae Contents 1 Storyline 2 Similar works 3 Reception 4 Commentaries 5 Translations 6 Adaptations 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksStoryline editSet in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan War the play tells of a bitter struggle for justice by Electra and her brother Orestes for the murder of their father Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and their stepfather Aegisthus When King Agamemnon returns from the Trojan War his wife Clytemnestra who has taken Agamemnon s cousin Aegisthus as a lover kills him Clytemnestra believes the murder was justified since Agamemnon had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia before the war as commanded by the gods Electra daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra rescued her younger brother Orestes from her mother by sending him to Strophius of Phocis The play begins years later when Orestes has returned as a grown man with a plot for revenge as well as to claim the throne Orestes arrives with his friend Pylades son of Strophius and a pedagogue i e tutor an old attendant of Orestes who took him from Electra to Strophius Their plan is to have the tutor announce that Orestes has died in a chariot race and that two men really Orestes and Pylades are arriving shortly to deliver an urn with his remains Meanwhile Electra continues to mourn the death of her father Agamemnon holding her mother Clytemnestra responsible for his murder When Electra is told of the death of Orestes her grief is doubled but is to be short lived After a choral ode Orestes arrives carrying the urn supposedly containing his ashes He does not recognize Electra nor she him He gives her the urn and she delivers a moving lament over it unaware that her brother is in fact standing alive next to her Now realizing the truth Orestes reveals his identity to his emotional sister She is overjoyed that he is alive but in their excitement they nearly reveal his identity and the tutor comes out from the palace to urge them on Orestes and Pylades enter the house and slay Clytemnestra As Aegisthus returns home they quickly put her corpse under a sheet and present it to him as the body of Orestes He lifts the veil to discover who it really is and Orestes then reveals himself They escort Aegisthus off set to be killed at the hearth the same location Agamemnon was slain The play ends here before the death of Aegisthus is announced Similar works editThe story of Orestes revenge was a popular subject in Greek tragedies There are surviving versions by all three of the great Athenian tragedians The Libation Bearers 458 BC in the Oresteia Trilogy by Aeschylus Electra Euripides play a play by Euripides probably in the mid 410s BC likely before 413 BC that tells a very different version of this same basic story from Sophocles Electra Sophocles play The story was also told at the end of the lost epic Nostoi also known as Returns or Returns of the Greeks The events are also brought up in Homer s OdysseyReception editRoman writer Cicero considered Electra to be a masterpiece 4 and the work is also viewed favorably among modern critics and scholars In The Reader s Encyclopedia of World Drama John Gassner and Edward Quinn argued that its simple device of delaying the recognition between brother and sister produces a series of brilliant scenes which display Electra s heroic resolution under constant attack 5 Of the titular character Edith Hall also wrote Sophocles certainly found an effective dramatic vehicle in this remarkable figure driven by deprivation and cruelty into near psychotic extremes of behavior no other character in his extant dramas dominates the stage to such an extent 6 L A Post noted that the play was unique among Greek tragedies for its emphasis on action 7 Commentaries editDavies Gilbert Austin 1908 abridged from the larger edition of Richard Claverhouse Jebb Finglass P J ed 2007 Sophocles Electra Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 44 Cambridge New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 86809 9 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a journal ignored help Kovacs David August 3 2009 Review of Sophocles Electra Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 44 2007 Bryn Mawr Classical Review Translations editEdward Plumptre 1878 verse full text available at Wikisource Lewis Campbell 1883 verse Richard C Jebb 1894 prose full text available at Wikisource Francis Storr 1919 verse full text with audio available at Wikisource Francis Fergusson 1938 verse E F Watling 1953 prose David Grene 1957 verse H D F Kitto 1962 verse J H Kells 1973 verse Kenneth McLeish 1979 verse Frank McGuinness 1997 verse Henry Taylor 1998 verse Anne Carson 2001 verse Jenny March 2001 prose acting edition Tom McGrath 2003 prose full text M MacDonald and J M Walton 2004 verse G Theodoridis 2006 prose full text Eric Dugdale 2008 verse acting edition Timberlake Wertenbaker 2009 Nick Payne 2011 Mary Lefkowitz 2016 verse Ian C Johnston 2017 verse full textAdaptations editElektra play a 1903 adaptation by Hugo von Hofmannsthal Elektra Op 58 opera a 1909 one act opera by Richard Strauss Elektra A Play by Ezra Pound and Rudd Fleming written in 1949 published 1989 by Princeton University Press Electra An opera by Mikis Theodorakis 1995 Elektra 2010 film a 2010 Malayalam psychological drama film co written and directed by ShyamaprasadReferences edit Jebb R C 1894 Sophocles The Plays and Fragments Part VI The Electra Vol 6 Cambridge London C J Clay and Sons Cambridge University Press Warehouse Ave Maria Lane Glasgow 363 Argyle Street Cambridge Deighton Bell And Co Leipzig F A Brockhaus New York Macmillan And Co pp Title ark 13960 t5v77xt8s Jebb 1894 Sophocles The Plays and Fragments Part VI The Electra p 1 Jebb 1894 Sophocles The Plays and Fragments Part VI The Electra pp lviii Csapo Eric Goette Hans Rupprecht Green J Richard Wilson Peter 2014 Greek Theater in the Fourth Century BC Walter de Gruyter GmbH amp Co KG p 178 ISBN 978 3110337556 Gassner John Quinn Edward 2002 The Reader s Encyclopedia of World Drama Courier Corporation p 200 ISBN 0486420647 Hall Edith 2008 Introduction Antigone Oedipus the King Electra By Sophocles Translated by Kitto H D F Oxford University Press p xvii xviii ISBN 978 0191561108 Post L A March 2 1953 Sophocles Strategy and the Electra The Classical Weekly 46 10 Johns Hopkins University Press 150 153 doi 10 2307 4343363 JSTOR 4343363 Further reading editDuncan A 2005 Gendered Interpretations Two Fourth Century B C E Performances of Sophocles Electra Helios 32 1 55 79 Dunn F M ed 1996 Sophocles Electra in Performance Drama Beitrage zum antiken Drama und seiner Rezeption 4 Stuttgart M amp P Verlag fur Wissenschaft und Forschung Griffiths E M 2012 Electra In Brill s Companion to Sophocles Edited by A Markantonatos 73 91 Leiden The Netherlands and Boston Brill Ierulli M 1993 A Community of Women The Protagonist and the Chorus in Sophocles Electra Metis 8 217 229 Lloyd M 2005 Sophocles Electra London Duckworth MacLeod L 2001 Dolos and Dike in Sophokles Elektra Mnemosyne Supplement 219 Leiden The Netherlands Boston and Cologne Brill Marshall C W 2006 How to Write a Messenger Speech Sophocles Electra 680 763 In Greek Drama III Essays in honour of Kevin Lee Edited by J F Davidson F Muecke and P Wilson 203 221 Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplement 87 London Institute of Classical Studies Nooter S 2011 Language Lamentation and Power in Sophocles Electra Classical World 104 4 399 417 Segal C P 1966 The Electra of Sophocles Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 97 473 545 Sommerstein A H 1997 Alternative Scenarios in Sophocles Electra Prometheus 23 193 214 External links editLibrary resources about Sophocles s Electra Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries nbsp Works related to Electra Sophocles at Wikisource nbsp Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article Ἠlektra Sophocles Electra at Perseus Digital Library nbsp Electra public domain audiobook at LibriVox Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Electra Sophocles play amp oldid 1220852674, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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