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jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this play. There is something exciting about reading a completely new Greek tragedy and having the experience that even most Greeks watching the tragedy for the first time didn’t have, which is a modicum of suspense in how it will actually turn out. I didn’t know the story of Odysseus taking Achilles’ son Neoptolemus to bring back the wounded Philoctetes from an island because it was prophesied that he needed to return to Troy in order for the Greeks to win the war. Moreover, the play itself does not have a lot of foreshadowing that gives it away.
The play itself seems among the more psychologically perceptive and realistic of the Greek tragedies. Odysseus effectively pressures the younger and more inexperienced Neoptolemus into lying to Philoctetes (Odysseus’s trickery is portrayed as dishonorable compared to the more honest and forthright use of force). The success of the lie makes Neoptolemus guilty and leads him to recant. In what is arguably a weak resolution, literally a deus ex machina, Heracles comes and persuades Philoctetes to actually go to Troy so that Odysseus and Neoptolemus eventually get their way not through guile or force but divine intervention and inevitability.
I really enjoyed the Seamus Heaney translation. It mostly seems like a straight translation (although I didn’t compare to more rigorous translators), but towards the end he inserted some contemporary references, including to hunger strikers, that effectively (although slightly datedly) underscored the contemporary relevance of the play.
The play itself seems among the more psychologically perceptive and realistic of the Greek tragedies. Odysseus effectively pressures the younger and more inexperienced Neoptolemus into lying to Philoctetes (Odysseus’s trickery is portrayed as dishonorable compared to the more honest and forthright use of force). The success of the lie makes Neoptolemus guilty and leads him to recant. In what is arguably a weak resolution, literally a deus ex machina, Heracles comes and persuades Philoctetes to actually go to Troy so that Odysseus and Neoptolemus eventually get their way not through guile or force but divine intervention and inevitability.
I really enjoyed the Seamus Heaney translation. It mostly seems like a straight translation (although I didn’t compare to more rigorous translators), but towards the end he inserted some contemporary references, including to hunger strikers, that effectively (although slightly datedly) underscored the contemporary relevance of the play.
caroline_slaughter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
laneamagya's review against another edition
4.0
If you have any love of Irish drama or Irish dramatists, you need to read this. I've been kicking myself for years for never having seen the original performance, though I had no idea this translation of the play existed until I was, well, not in high school like I was in 1990.
Heaney has proved himself a fine translator. Tackling both Beowulf and Sophocles is no task for a coward. In this translation of the play, we find Philoctetes as a possible symbol for the injured nationalist Ireland--truly wronged, but perhaps short-sighted in clinging to that wrong and the need for vengeance for far too long. Heaney is light-handed with his use of local dialects--we get some whinging and an och or two, but we're not drowning in the peculiarities of Ulster's speech in this ancient setting. This retelling leaves the weight of Odysseus's crime against Philoctetes on the Atrean shoulders, but also calls Philoctetes to account for his own stubbornness.
Read it. Savor the language from the simple sweet dedication to the late Robert Fitzgerald, to the painfully apt use of Auden's poetry as an introduction, through to the redemptive end. Read it. It will be good for you.
Heaney has proved himself a fine translator. Tackling both Beowulf and Sophocles is no task for a coward. In this translation of the play, we find Philoctetes as a possible symbol for the injured nationalist Ireland--truly wronged, but perhaps short-sighted in clinging to that wrong and the need for vengeance for far too long. Heaney is light-handed with his use of local dialects--we get some whinging and an och or two, but we're not drowning in the peculiarities of Ulster's speech in this ancient setting. This retelling leaves the weight of Odysseus's crime against Philoctetes on the Atrean shoulders, but also calls Philoctetes to account for his own stubbornness.
Read it. Savor the language from the simple sweet dedication to the late Robert Fitzgerald, to the painfully apt use of Auden's poetry as an introduction, through to the redemptive end. Read it. It will be good for you.
davidwright's review against another edition
5.0
Saw this at the Seattle Repertory Theater last night. I may be a sucker for Greek Tragedy - I am - but I loved it, and through the production was really well done and effective, and that Boris McGiver (who plays everybody's nightmare boss in season four of The Wire) was right on as poor old Philoctetes (again, Wire fans can think of him as sort of like Bubbles - completely undeserving of his crappy life). I had really good catharsis at a few different scenes, which is the point of all this, or so says Aristotle. The Chorus was very good, although at times they had to bend the words to their purpose (as in the effective emo ballad about the man's abcess draining blood 'and matter'). Anyway, the text - which this is here - was a not-unusual colloquial updating of Sophocles, and it worked well.
franfernandezarce's review against another edition
4.0
i liked this more than i was expecting to.
seamus heaney's writing flows very effortlessly in terms of pacing and pauses without actually relying on stage or dialogue instructions (i counted around five of them throughout the whole play). there's a performative sense within the page itself as the arrangement of each line expresses the shifts and movement of the actors' performance. i've read several of his poetry collections but, this being my first play (adaptation) by him, i was pleasantly surprised by him still retaining the poetical quality of his usual work into this medium.
i should say though that a crash course on [b:The Illiad|35266972|The Illiad (Classics Illustrated)|Homer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496147422s/35266972.jpg|56623085] wouldn't be amiss for someone who has no idea who were the major players--from the greek side. and for those who've read [b:The Odyssey|1381|The Odyssey|Homer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390173285s/1381.jpg|3356006] and thought odysseus a jerk, you will feel vindicated.
i am going to read sophocles's original version ([b:Philoctetes|34437|Philoctetes|Sophocles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347525299s/34437.jpg|34412] soon--just for the sake of comparison.
seamus heaney's writing flows very effortlessly in terms of pacing and pauses without actually relying on stage or dialogue instructions (i counted around five of them throughout the whole play). there's a performative sense within the page itself as the arrangement of each line expresses the shifts and movement of the actors' performance. i've read several of his poetry collections but, this being my first play (adaptation) by him, i was pleasantly surprised by him still retaining the poetical quality of his usual work into this medium.
i should say though that a crash course on [b:The Illiad|35266972|The Illiad (Classics Illustrated)|Homer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496147422s/35266972.jpg|56623085] wouldn't be amiss for someone who has no idea who were the major players--from the greek side. and for those who've read [b:The Odyssey|1381|The Odyssey|Homer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390173285s/1381.jpg|3356006] and thought odysseus a jerk, you will feel vindicated.
i am going to read sophocles's original version ([b:Philoctetes|34437|Philoctetes|Sophocles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347525299s/34437.jpg|34412] soon--just for the sake of comparison.
sebseb's review against another edition
5.0
starts off exciting as i settle in to these characters again and enjoy the age-old trick of having the main one advertised by the (original) title kept off-stage while the others talk about him for a while to build tension. proceeds somewhat predictably if pleasurably, ok i see where this is going and how it all must work out. concludes with secret waves having swept me up unnoticed, the language and its power buffeting higher and higher - how often does great writing dare to talk about hope, and pull it off all the same? "what is it?" "the foot! the foot!" (maybe made perfect by its very light shades of Tell-Tale Heart-ishness ~)
ks_reads_stat's review against another edition
4.0
The Cure at Troy is Seamus Heaney's interpretive translation of the tragedy Philoctetes by Sophocles that covers the ploy to bring the previously ditched, wounded archer and his mighty bow to flatten Troy once and for all.
The way Heaney handled it is similar to Anne Carson's Antigonick: simplified "edgier" language, generally true to the original but not exact, with some creative additions of their own. I am usually not a big fan of this approach, yet the poetic value and the understanding of dramatic accents in the play made it a compelling read, very appropriate for both modern reader and modern stage.
I don't think every alteration was for the best and there is gratuitous melodrama happening in the prologue (ugh, why?) and the "epilogue", but all in all, I am not mad at it, not mad at all.
The way Heaney handled it is similar to Anne Carson's Antigonick: simplified "edgier" language, generally true to the original but not exact, with some creative additions of their own. I am usually not a big fan of this approach, yet the poetic value and the understanding of dramatic accents in the play made it a compelling read, very appropriate for both modern reader and modern stage.
I don't think every alteration was for the best and there is gratuitous melodrama happening in the prologue (ugh, why?) and the "epilogue", but all in all, I am not mad at it, not mad at all.
tabris's review against another edition
4.0
very very beautiful...please burn away all bidenic associations with this masterpiece
tiredpanda's review against another edition
5.0
This story gave me goosebumps at how relevant it still is today. It's Seamus Heaney's adaptation of Philoctetes from Greek mythology, where Achilles's son tricks Philoctetes (who's been abandoned on an island because he was bitten by a snake) into giving up his mighty bow. Heaney takes some liberties with the story, but that worked just fine for me because I didn't brush up on the actual story from Greek mythology before reading this. More importantly, the themes explored in this story doesn't require knowing anything about Greek mythology. Everything corrupt about human nature and the worst of human instincts are still prevalent, even after thousands of years of having history repeat itself (dishearteningly so). But of course, the story is hopeful; everything honorable about humans is present as well. Heaney so beautifully and concisely, in a modern and easy-to-understand way, tells the time old story of doing the right thing, of truth and justice. This is a story that we need now more than ever; it brought me to tears.
tytoalba_27's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25