If not the profoundest of Greek tragedies, Orestes is certainly one of the most exuberant and entertaining. Euripides stands traditional legend on its head to forge a melodrama full of varied action, emotion, and novel theatrical effects, with a succession of crises crowned by a spectacular happy ending. Produced in 408 B.C., the play marks the culmination of Euripides' development, and in antiquity it surpassed all other tragedies in popularity. No study of Greek drama should neglect it. For this volume, Professor West has prepared a new edition of the Greek text with a selective apparatus. Greek text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.
