Translated by Robert Emmet Meagher

Description

The story of Iphigenia's sacrifice and her legendary rescue is a story for our time as much as any other. Meagher's insightful introduction and splendid translation illuminate this tale as never before, showing that the past is not past and that the darkest and brightest truths never change.

Translator Bio

Robert Emmet Meagher has won critical acclaim from actors, directors, and scholars who have commissioned, read and performed his translations of ancient Greek plays in the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland. His unmatched skill in eliciting the power and passion of Greek drama is a synthesis of innate dramatic sensibilities, academic brilliance, and an interdisciplinary approach. Since completing his doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, Meagher has taught literature, drama, epic, comparative religion, theology, and philosophy as a visiting professor, a guest lecturer, and a full-time professor. Actress Irene Papas, who has commissioned three translations from him, praises Meagher's "true sense of dramatic construction...his dialogue is always sharp, frequently daring, and invariably extremely actable." The late Michael Joyce, of Dublin's Samuel Beckett Center and the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, called him "the finest living translator of ancient Greek Drama." Other books include: Euripides Helen, Mortal Vision: The Wisdom of Euripides, Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis & Iphigenia in Tauris, Helen: A Study in Myth and Misogyny, Euripides Bakkhai, Euripides Hekabe, and Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes.

Comments and Reviews

Robert Meagher's able translation and insightful introduction illuminate Euripides' tale as never before, showing that the past is not past, and that the darkest and brightest truths never change....highly recommended.

— Wisconsin Bookwatch

As an actress who has performed Greek tragedy in English, I feel a very strong admiration for Robert E. Meagher. He has a talent for making a classical text spring to life, remaining true to the author while investing it with the poetic immediacy of an original work. Mr. Meagher certainly knows how to write for actors. Not only has he a true sense of dramatic construction, but his dialogue is always sharp, frequently daring, and invariably extremely actable. We need playwrights like him.

— Irene Papas
Actress