Euripides, along was Sophocles and Aeschylus, is responsible for the great rise of Greek tragedy. It was in the 5th Century BC, during the height of Greece's cultural bloom, that Euripides lived and worked. Of his roughly ninety-two plays, only seventeen tragedies survive. Both ridiculed and lauded during his life, Euripides now stands as an innovator of the Greek drama. Here, in «Heracles and Other Plays», we witness Euripides at the heights of his dramatic power. «Heracles» dramatizes the story of the great Greek hero and his maddened desire to murder his wife and children. Saved by the graces of his friendship with Theseus, «Heracles» examines family, heroism, and violence in a masterful way. «Iphigenia Among the Taurians» is a thrilling tale set on the Black Sea which examines Greek and Barbarian cultures, «Ion» tracks the orphan Ion through a web of betrayal, revenge, and reconciliation. «Helen» picks up after the fall of Troy and liberally rewrites the standard myth of Helen, and lastly, «The Cyclops» expertly dramatizes the famed episode in Homer's «Odyssey». For the lover of drama and the ancient world, this collection is not to be missed—Euripides is seen here in all of his valor and brilliance.
