'Medea and Other Plays' Summary of the book
Medea/Hecabe/Electra/Heracles Your words are gentle; but my blood
runs cold to think What plots you may be nursing deep within your heart' The four tragedies collected in this volume all focus on a central char acter, once powerful, brought down by betrayal, jealousy, guilt and hatred. The first playwright to depict suffering without reference to the gods, Euripides (484-407 BC) made his characters speak in human terms and face the consequences of their actions. In Medea, a woman rejected by her lover takes hideous revenge by murdering the children they both love, and Hecabe depicts the former queen of Troy, driven mad by the prospect of her daughter's sacrifice to Achilles. Electra portrays a young woman planning to avenge the brutal death of her father at the hands of her mother, while in Heracles the hero seeks vengeance against the evil king who has caused bloodshed in his family. Contents
1. Introduction...............7
2. Medea.......................17
3. Hecabe.....................63
4. Electra......................105
5. Heracles..................153
6. Notes......................200