Griechische Dramen

Like the Sophoclean tragedy of the same name, Euripides’s Electra deals with the final chapter in the Atreides’ dark history and, like Sophocles, Euripides puts Agamemnon’s daughter center stage in his play. His treatment of the material is much less well-known, but the way he realistically deheroicizes the characters, the situation, and the atmosphere, creating an entirely new, non-tragic tone, is equally compelling

This edition of Euripides' Medea offers a detailed introduction, a newly revised Greek text (with linguistic explanations), a German prose translation and a detailed commentary on linguistic and factual problems, for the understanding of which knowledge of Greek is not required. It thus fulfils the intention of the series to make Greek drama accessible to a wider range of readers with different interests. The design of the text and the commentary throughout also required an in-depth examination of specific scholarly discussions, especially with regard to the questions of authenticity of individual parts of the text, which are particularly relevant to the Medea text. Hypotheses are proposed that have consequences for the course of the plot and for the understanding of the depiction of Medea's plan for revenge and its motivation. The question of whether Euripides was the first to have Medea deliberately kill her children, as is usually assumed, is also raised by further reflections on the relationship between the Euripidean Medea and the so-called Ur-Medea and the Medea of Neophron.

Antigone, the first piece in Sophocles’ Thebian trilogy, is still one of the most influential texts of ancient literature. The Attic drama addresses the conflict of the eponymous heroine caught between various antagonistic obligations. Michael Weißenberger provides a new translation with text, apparatus, and commentary for the Griechische Dramen (Greek Dramas) series.

In the heyday of Greek tragedy, each of the three playwrights who competed for victory in the tragedy competition at the Great Dionysia, the most important Dionysus festival in Athens, not only had to present three tragedies, but also a light-hearted epilogue, which was called a satyr play after the satyrs who always formed the chorus. Euripides' Cyclops is the only complete surviving example of this dramatic genre. The play deals with Odysseus' encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus, which is familiar to every audience member from the Odyssey.

Aristophanes' Lysistrate is one of the great political comedies of world literature. It was performed in Athens in 411 BC at a Dionysus festival during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta as a plea for peace. As the men are incapable of peace, the women take the initiative for peace in a revolutionary action led by Lysistrate, because women also have "reason" and "insight". As the old women take control of the state and war coffers from the men and the young women join the Spartans in a love strike, together they force peace through play and thus save Greece.

The intertwining of serious themes and lascivious comic action is a constitutive feature of Attic comedy in the classical period, which has its roots in Dionysian festival culture. It massively hindered the reception of Lysistrate until well into the 20th century and was only recognised as an element of carnivalesque comedy in modern times. The edition of the play with a precise translation and a differentiated commentary should help to secure the comedy its place in the cultural memory of the present.

On the way to Troy, Philoctetes is bitten by a snake and left behind on the deserted island of Lemnos. Nine years later the Greeks learn that they can capture Troy only if he is with them. Sophocles’ tragedy addresses how one can motivate an individual treated in such a way to support those who are responsible for that treatment.

The mythical story of Orestes’s and Electra’s act of vengeance against their mother, Clytemnestra, was developed by Sophocles as well as Aeschylus and Euripides. In his tragedy, Sophocles focused on the suffering of Electra, living in isolation with her hated mother. This commentary places particular emphasis on the impact of the play’s events on the audience and references to the modern reception of the text.

In Euripides' drama, Hippolytus angers Aphrodite, the goddess of love, so much by worshiping the hunting goddess Artemis that she makes his Stepmother, Phaedra fall in love with him. Phaedra's aged nurse persuades her to confess her love and then informs Hippolytus, who recoils in horror. In desperation Phaedra commits suicide, but leaves a letter in which she names Hippolytus as the reason for her death. As a result he is cursed and banished by his father, Theseus. Whilst taking flight he suffers a gruesome death through Aphrodite's intervention.
Peter Roth presents a bilingual version of Hippolytus with a new prose translation. The extensive commentary requires no prior knowledge of Greek, providing information on factual issues and questions of interpretation. An extensive introduction deals with performance arrangements, the underlying myth, the language and metrics, and general questions of interpretation.

This bilingual edition of Aristophanes’s The Wasps includes an introduction, prose translation, and long-awaited German commentary. A classic work of Attic comedy, The Wasps satirizes developments in Athenian justice and politics via a generational struggle in which the son seeks to re-educate the father. With perfect narrative structure, The Wasps casts a humorous light on the early post-Pericles era in Athens.

Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus is one of the best-known of all ancient tragedies. A history of its far-reaching and diverse impact can be documented in both European and non-European literature. For Aristotle, this drama represented the ultimate model of tragedy, and it has remained a significant element in the theory of tragedy to this day. In addition, there have been and continue to be major controversies concerning the meaning of the drama and its textual structure.

This edition presents Oedipus Tyrannus as a critically revised Greek text with a new German translation, and includes a comprehensive introduction and continuous commentary. The introduction includes a history of the textual material prior to Sophocles's version and takes up contentious issues concerning the interpretation and reception of the drama. The commentary relates to the translated text and is designed to be fully accessible to readers with no knowledge of Ancient Greek. In addition, for those readers who wish to refer to the Greek text or start out from it, there are concise linguistic and critical textual explanations, as well as metrical analyses of the chorus passages.

The text used for this edition of Euripides' Hecuba is based on the editor's own manuscript studies; a prose translation, introduction and detailed commentary are provided. The introduction and the commentary treat the structure of the play and its parts, the interpretation of it, and also problems of staging it; they also give historical and factual information. They are written in such a way that they can also be used by readers without a knowledge of Greek.

The Greek text of Euripides’ Alcestis has been critically edited for this bilingual edition; the prose translation attempts to follow it verse by verse. The commentary, which assumes no knowledge of Greek on the part of the reader, explains questions of content and interpretation. The comprehensive introduction provides information on the historical background, the motifs of ‘life exchange’ and ‘sacrificial death and return’ in Greek myth and in Euripides’ work, and on adaptations and modern interpretations.