Euripides: 169 books

Produced more frequently on the ancient stage than any other tragedy, Orestes retells with striking innovations the story of the young man who kills his mother to avenge her murder of his father. Though eventually exonerated, Orestes becomes a fugitive from the Furies (avenging spirits) of his mother's...

Overture—Adagio Misterioso THE NEUROSURGEON peeled the thin surgical gloves from his hands as the nurse blotted the perspiration from his forehead for the last time after the long, grueling hours. "They're waiting outside for you, Doctor," she said quietly. The neurosurgeon nodded wordlessly. Behind...

Iolaus, Heracles’ nephew and his companion during his Twelve Labours but now an old man, is in hiding with Heracles’ fatherless children at the altar of the temple of Zeus at Marathon, near Athens. They have been moving from city to city, as Iolaus tries to protect them from the vengeful King Eurystheus...

Outside the temple of Apollo at Delphi, Hermes recalls the time when Creusa, the daughter of Erectheus, was raped by Apollo in a cave at Long Rocks under the Acropolis. Creusa secretly gave birth to a child, whom she left in a basket, along with some trinkets, expecting that he would be devoured by beasts....

El dios Dioniso era hijo de Zeus y una mortal, Sémele, hija a su vez de Cadmo, el rey fundador de Tebas. Tras sus viajes por toda Asia, Dioniso llega a Tebas, ciudad en la que se negaba su condición de dios, acompañado por un coro de adoradoras, formado por bacantes (adoradoras humanas) y ménades (ninfas).

Es un canto lleno de dramatismo por las consecuencias de la guerra. Se destaca la crueldad de los vencedores, que, en su desmesura (hybris), no tienen piedad con los vencidos, ni respeto a los dioses, ya que profanan sus templos.

Children, lead this old woman outside. A slave like the rest of you, She once was your queen. Troy has fallen to the Greeks, and Hecuba, its beloved queen, is widowed and enslaved. She mourns her great city and the death of her husband, but when fresh horrors emerge, her grief turns to rage...

Clinging to the altar of the sea-goddess Thetis for sanctuary, Andromache delivers the play's prologue, in which she mourns her misfortune (the destruction of Troy, the deaths of her husband Hector and their child Astyanax, and her enslavement to Neoptolemos) and her persecution at the hands of Neoptolemos'...

The theme of the Heraclidae is how the children of Heracles, under the care of Iolaus and Alemena, were driven from city to city throughout Greece, fleeing the wrath of Eurystheus, king of Argos, who hated them for their father's sake.

In the play's unconventional opening, the ghost of Polydorus tells how when the war threatened Troy, he was sent to King Polymestor of Thrace for safekeeping, with gifts of gold and jewelry. But when Troy lost the war, Polymestor treacherously murdered Polydorus, and seized the treasure. Polydorus has foreknowledge of many of the play's events and haunted his mother's dreams the night before.

Medea is centered on a wife’s calculated desire for revenge against her unfaithful husband. The play is set in Corinth some time after Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece, where he met Medea. The play begins with Medea raging at Jason for arranging to marry Glauce, the daughter of Creon (king of Corinth). The nurse, overhearing Medea’s grief, fears what she might do to herself or her children.

When Odysseus arrives he meets Silenus and offers to trade wine for food. Being a servant of Dionysus, Silenus cannot resist obtaining the wine despite the fact that the food is not his to trade. The Cyclops soon arrives and Silenus is quick to accuse Odysseus of stealing the food, swearing to many gods...

In the middle of the night Trojan guards on the lookout for suspicious enemy activity sight bright fires in the Greek camp. They promptly inform Hector, who almost issues a general call to arms before Aeneas makes him see how ill-advised this would be. Their best bet, Aeneas argues, would be to send...