Oresteia (The 100 greatest books of all time) - Hardcover

Joshua Billings is Assistant Professor of Classics at Princeton University. He is the author of Genealogy of the Tragic: Greek Tragedy and German Philosophy.

Oliver Taplin is emeritus professor of classics at the University of Oxford. His books range from The Stagecraft of Aeschylus to Pots & Plays. He has recently published translations of Euripides’ Medea and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Other Tragedies.

Although these Greek plays are 25 centuries old, this production is, remarkably, the first audio release to include the complete trilogy. The strongest play is the final one, THE EUMENIDES, during which Orestes is tried before Athena for the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra. It features a fine performance by Robertson Dean as Apollo, Orestes's advocate. After listening to the trilogy, it's easy to appreciate the challenges of adapting Greek dramatic conventions to audio. For example, lengthy passages are delivered by a chorus, which may seem contrived to modern listeners. Unfortunately, this production magnifies that awkwardness--far too many lines are delivered with injudicious sound effects and multiple voices that are more cloying than dramatic. D.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine