The Oresteia

Simon Goldhill focuses on the play's themes–justice, sexual politics, violence, and the role of man in ancient Greek culture–in this general introduction to Aeschylus' Oresteia, one of the most important and influential of all Greek dramas. After exploring how Aeschylus constructs a myth for the city in which he lived, a final chapter considers the influence of the Oresteia on more contemporary theater. The volume's organized structure and guide to further reading will make it an invaluable reference for students and teachers.

The only trilogy in Greek drama that survives from antiquity, Aeschylus' The Oresteia is translated by Robert Fagles with an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W.B. Stanford in Penguin Classics.

This book is concerned with the complexity and difficulty of reading the Oresteia. It is not a traditional commentary, although it is often concerned with problems of interpretation and language, nor is it simply what is generally understood by a literary study, although it often discusses the wider themes of the narrative. It is a close reading of the text concentrating on the developing meanings of words within the structuring of the play. In particular, Simon Goldhill focuses on the text's interests in language and its control, in sexuality and sexual difference, and in the progression and description of events. Dr Goldhill links a sound philological knowledge with material drawn widely from modem literary theory and anthropological studies.