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The Heracles of Euripides

The Heracles of Euripides

Michael R. Halleran

University of Washington

1998 • 0-941051-01-3 • paper • 96 pages • 5½ x 8½ • $9.95

English translation. This is an extraordinary play filled with affecting human pathos - innovative in its treatment of myth and bold in its dramatic structure. Includes essays on Euripides, performance, and interpretation of Myth; a list of suggested readings, notes, and map.

| About the Author | Table of Contents | Preface |

 Description                                             

Euripides' Heracles is an extraordinary play, innovative in its treatment of the myth, bold in its dramatic structure, and filled with affective human pathos. The play tells a tale of horror: Heracles, the greatest hero of the Greeks, is maddened by the gods to murder his wife and children. But this suffering and divine malevolence are leavened by the friendship between Heracles and Theseus, which allows the hero to survive this final and most painful labor. The Heracles raises profound questions about the gods and mortal values in a capricious and harsh world.

 Author                                                    

Michael Halleran is Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami, Coral Gables. He has translated and commented on Euripides' Heracles and Hippolytus, both of which are published in the Focus Classical Library. He was series editor for several years.

 Table of Contents                                     

Preface
    Map of Euripides' Greece
Introduction
    Euripides
    The Heracles in Performance
    The Myth
The Heracles of Euripides
The Heracles: An Interpretation
Suggestions for Further Reading

 From the Preface                                   

      The Heracles of Euripides is an extraordinary play, innovative in its treatment of the myth, bold in its dramatic structure, and filled with affecting human pathos. Heracles was the greatest hero of the Greek world. After completing manifold adventures, after doing battle with beasts, Amazons, and the Giants, and returning even from the underworld, he eventually underwent an apotheosis and joined the gods on Mount Olympus. Euripides focuses on one specific section of this long and variegated myth: Heracles' return from the underworld, the rescue of his family, the subsequent fit of divinely-caused madness, which leads him to kill his wife and children, and the eventual rescue of Heracles by his friend Theseus. The play tells a tale of horror: a man murdering his wife and children. The greatest hero of Greece is brought to the lowest and most pitiful position. Euripides here, as in other plays, most notably in Hippolytus and Bacchae, raises the issue of divine justice. This madness is sent by the gods; the audience sees Iris and Lyssa arrive to cause the ruin of a seemingly blameless man. But suffering and apparent divine malevolence are not the only striking features of this drama. We also witness the moving friendship of Theseus, who takes great risks to save Heracles.

…

      Translation is the carrying across of expressions and ideas from one language to another. Of the many aspects of language not all can be conveyed at once successfully. Ultimately translation is a type of interpretation, and there are almost as many styles of interpretation as there are interpreters. In translating the Heracles I have attempted to be true to its expression and structure. To the extent that it is possible I have followed the colometry of the Greek text and have done little to alter the idioms and metaphors of the original, trying to preserve the movement as well as the texture of the poetry. I have made no attempt to reproduce the rhythm of the verse of the dialogue (a six-beat iambic line, called the iambic trimeter) or of the lyrics. In translating the lyric sections closely, I have found that they maintain some of their lyric quality. In short, I have tried to present Euripides' play to the reader accurately and with as few barriers as possible.

      A number of lines found in the manuscripts are not, in the judgment of the text's editor, originally by Euripides but are the result of interpolation. These lines are translated here and are indicated by square brackets.

      There are basically two systems for transliterating Greek proper names, one which reproduces transliterations directly from the Greek, another, the traditional one, which derives the English spellings from the Latinized forms of the names. I have opted for the traditional spellings.

      The Heracles not only was written in a different language but was part of a different culture, whose shared beliefs, customs, and symbols are often unfamiliar to us. In writing the notes I have intended to bridge this cultural gap. The identities of persons and places have been given, as have explanations of customs or ideas which were clear to the original audience but confusing or opaque to us. I have tried to let the translation “speak for itself” and accordingly have used the notes only occasionally to annotate the nuance of a word or phrase. Since no stage directions accompany the ancient text, stage actions must be inferred from the play itself and from an understanding of the conventions of the ancient Greek theater. I have indicated only those actions which seem clear from the text, although doubtless there were others in the original performance. Stage directions are indicated in italics in the text and at times elaborated in the notes.

      The introduction has three sections, offering sketches of Euripides and his age, the circumstances of the original production, and the background of the myth. An interpretative essay follows, as such essays should, the work itself. Suggestions for further reading will be found at the end of the book.