Scan barcode
miles_151's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
katski's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ichirofakename's review
1.0
Only extant satyr play. Meh. EVERYTHING lost in cultural translation, I guess. Odysseus vs. Cyclops, more or less same story as in Homer.
mimirtells's review against another edition
4.0
Puanım 4/5. (%72/100)
Günümüze ulaşan tek satyrikon olarak kabul ediliyor Kyklops. Yunan mitolojisinde oldukça ilginç bulduğum tanrılardan birisi Dionysos ve onun takipçileri satyrlerdir. Kurnaz ve oldukça yaramaz oldukları bilinir, ayrıca ağızları da çok iyi laf yapar. Zaten günümüzde "satire" (hiciv) kelimesi onlardan gelmektedir.
Oyunda koroyu satryler oluşturuyor ve Euripides'den başka bunu yapan yok o zamanlarda. Kitap Odysseus'un Poseidon oğlu kyklops Polyphemos ile karşılaşmasını anlatıyor. Fakat komedya elementleri bol bol bulunuyor. Odysseus yardımcı karakter gibi gösterilmiş ve normalde güçlü bir kumandan ve savaşçı olmasına rağmen satryler gibi o da şakacı bir karakter gibi ortada. Diyaloglar harikaydı özellikle koronun yer yer yaptığı yorumlar.
Oldukça kısa ve okuması çok zevkli bir oyun. Ayrıca tek satryikon örneği olduğu için okunması gerekiyor diye düşünüyorum. Umarım İş Bankası Kültür Euripides oyunlarını çevirmeye devam eder.
Günümüze ulaşan tek satyrikon olarak kabul ediliyor Kyklops. Yunan mitolojisinde oldukça ilginç bulduğum tanrılardan birisi Dionysos ve onun takipçileri satyrlerdir. Kurnaz ve oldukça yaramaz oldukları bilinir, ayrıca ağızları da çok iyi laf yapar. Zaten günümüzde "satire" (hiciv) kelimesi onlardan gelmektedir.
Oyunda koroyu satryler oluşturuyor ve Euripides'den başka bunu yapan yok o zamanlarda. Kitap Odysseus'un Poseidon oğlu kyklops Polyphemos ile karşılaşmasını anlatıyor. Fakat komedya elementleri bol bol bulunuyor. Odysseus yardımcı karakter gibi gösterilmiş ve normalde güçlü bir kumandan ve savaşçı olmasına rağmen satryler gibi o da şakacı bir karakter gibi ortada. Diyaloglar harikaydı özellikle koronun yer yer yaptığı yorumlar.
Oldukça kısa ve okuması çok zevkli bir oyun. Ayrıca tek satryikon örneği olduğu için okunması gerekiyor diye düşünüyorum. Umarım İş Bankası Kültür Euripides oyunlarını çevirmeye devam eder.
adaora_ble's review
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, War, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Violence
blushingbookkeeper's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
spacestationtrustfund's review
2.0
This review is of the translation by Heather McHugh and David Konstan.
I think it's very possible to study the classics[1] while being sensitive about the controversial and uncomfortable topics that will unavoidably be raised, but I also believe that, if one is to study these cultures and the material and legacy they left behind, a certain sort of "thick skin" or "strong stomach" is a requirement, as is the necessity of approaching these studies with an open mind and an understanding that we in the modern day are millennia removed from Euripides and his contemporaries. In this context I am referring specifically to rape.
To quote from an article by Donna Zuckerberg[2]:
From the same article:
I don't agree with Zuckerberg's assertion that this particular bit "calls into question the ethics of" pederasty, nor that it serves the purpose of "a trenchant joke digging into the intensely creepy origins of Athenian rape culture," although I do see where she's coming from. But this one example is not the only instance of references to sexual assault played for laughs.
To give more examples of the above I'll have to discuss the translation question. Various translations are freely available online (this particular edition was translated by Heather McHugh), including the original Ancient Greek. McHugh's translation is not precisely accurate in terms of specific word choice (too many modern colloquialisms, to start), but overall gives a good feel of the play, and is very readable even to a casual reader. Some of the language, especially the word choice of the Chorus, was tricky (Odysseus is called a "sponger" and Sisyphus a "famous pusher";[4] both only make sense if you know the story of those characters). Another translation, done by [a:George Theodoridis|8223753|George Theodoridis|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], is available online, as is the original Ancient Greek.
When Odysseus first gives Silenus some wine, the old satyr immediately begins rhapsodising about the power of wine, saying (169-171):
Essentially, I think the solution is content warnings, when applicable: a lecture entitled "Abduction and Consent in Greek Myth" will probably not need content warnings, since the topics in the title should speak for themselves; conversely, it might be advisable to inform students of what "abduction" typically implied (or outright meant) in the context of satyr-ical comedy,[6] since much of the actual assault took place off-screen in a wink-nudge manner.
Oh also, since this is technically a review of the play itself... two stars, it was "okay."[7] I still prefer Βάκχαι.
[1] By which I here refer to the discipline of classicism, to wit, the study of Ancient Greece, Rome, and adjacent cultures.
[2] Yes, of the same family as that Zuckerberg.
[3] Ganymede's official role was for a while the position of "cup-bearer" to Zeus, which furthers the "joke" because of Silenus's (and satyrs' in general) association with inebriation.
[4] Both "sponger" and "pusher" are particularly interesting, especially because they aren't in the original: the Greek reads οἶδ᾽ ἄνδρα, κρόταλον δριμύ, Σισύφου γένος ("I know this man, shrewd rattler, Sisyphus's offspring"). A κρότᾰλον (krotalon) is a rattle or castanet, and δρῑμῠ́ς (drimus) can mean "sharp, piercing, cutting," "pungent, bitter, acrid," or "keen, shrewd."
[5] The word λειμών literally meant "meadow," but was also a vulgar euphemism for the vagina. A modern equivalent would be the slang meaning of "bush."
[6] Sorry.
[7] This is actually the first complete English translation I've read of this particular play; I thought the translation was fine, if a bit confusing at times (although that can be chalked up to ESL nonsense). There are a handful of translations out there—Percy Shelley even produced one in 1819 (pub. 1824), two versions of which are available on Wikisource for all to peruse (Shelley omits entirely most of the sexual innuendo, rendering the Ganymede situation only as "I would not leave this Ganymede"). I've also heard that the William Arrowsmith translation is good, but have yet to read it.
I think it's very possible to study the classics[1] while being sensitive about the controversial and uncomfortable topics that will unavoidably be raised, but I also believe that, if one is to study these cultures and the material and legacy they left behind, a certain sort of "thick skin" or "strong stomach" is a requirement, as is the necessity of approaching these studies with an open mind and an understanding that we in the modern day are millennia removed from Euripides and his contemporaries. In this context I am referring specifically to rape.
To quote from an article by Donna Zuckerberg[2]:
My subfield inside Classics is Greek drama, and if I wanted to expunge all texts containing triggering material from my syllabi, my classes would consist in me and my students staring at each other silently across a seminar room. Domestic violence, war, rape: these are the foundation of Greek tragedy. And jokes about them are the foundation of Greek comedy.Κύκλωψ (Kyklops) is the only complete and extant surviving "satyr play," and is a retelling of one of the most famous scenes from the Odyssey, in which Odysseus blinds the cyclops Polyphemus. In Euripides's bawdily tragicomedic rendition, the satyr Silenus and his sons (who play the role of the Chorus) are Polyphemus's slaves. Silenus exchanges Polyphemus's food for wine from Odysseus, but later claims that Odysseus and his men have stolen the food, at which point Polyphemus decides to eat them, despite Odysseus's protests that Silenus is lying. Odysseus attempts to ply Polyphemus with wine, as he does in Homer's original, but Silenus drinks enough of the wine that there is not enough left to send Polyphemus to sleep; instead, the cyclops drags Silenus into the cave to "play Zeus and Ganymede" (i.e., rape). Odysseus then follows them to blind the cyclops, and the Chorus of satyrs distracts Polyphemus so Odysseus can escape, along with the satyrs, who pledge themselves as slaves to Dionysos.
From the same article:
I decided that Euripides, like Amy Schumer, was punching up. The Cyclops scene can be read as a trenchant joke digging into the intensely creepy origins of Athenian rape culture. It subtly calls into question the ethics of a common custom in Athens: the sexually-inflected mentorship of adolescents by older men. And the fact that the rape is preceded by a mock-symposium goes even further, skewering the common sympotic custom of singing songs about desirable young boys."Comedy reveals a society’s concerns," Zuckerberg continues. This is, perhaps, giving Euripides (and comedy) too much credit—often comedy reveals little more than what a society finds funny—but she does have a point about the connection to Ancient Greek pedagogical pederasty. Part of the "joke" about Polyphemus and Silenus is the comparison to Zeus and Ganymede, an immensely popular story in which the pantheon's patriarch kidnapped a "beautiful" prepubescent boy: comparing Polyphemus, the ugly, brutish, inhuman cyclops to the divine progenitor Zeus is side-splitting, isn't it? And of course Silenus, the chubby, hirsute, aging satyr known not for his fair-haired innocence but for his sexual lasciviousness (the Chorus consists of his sons, remember) bears little resemblance to a "golden child" such as Ganymede.[3] The other part of the "joke" is the subversion of expectations: satyrs are, after all, known for their promiscuity and specifically the sexual harassment and assault of human women; it's functionally identical to a joke about a womanising tough guy getting catcalled. It's funny (to the original audience) because the "acceptable" situation is flipped on its head.
In other words, Euripides’ rape joke works for me.
I don't agree with Zuckerberg's assertion that this particular bit "calls into question the ethics of" pederasty, nor that it serves the purpose of "a trenchant joke digging into the intensely creepy origins of Athenian rape culture," although I do see where she's coming from. But this one example is not the only instance of references to sexual assault played for laughs.
To give more examples of the above I'll have to discuss the translation question. Various translations are freely available online (this particular edition was translated by Heather McHugh), including the original Ancient Greek. McHugh's translation is not precisely accurate in terms of specific word choice (too many modern colloquialisms, to start), but overall gives a good feel of the play, and is very readable even to a casual reader. Some of the language, especially the word choice of the Chorus, was tricky (Odysseus is called a "sponger" and Sisyphus a "famous pusher";[4] both only make sense if you know the story of those characters). Another translation, done by [a:George Theodoridis|8223753|George Theodoridis|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], is available online, as is the original Ancient Greek.
When Odysseus first gives Silenus some wine, the old satyr immediately begins rhapsodising about the power of wine, saying (169-171):
ἵν’ ἔστι τουτί τ’ ὀρθὸν ἐξανιστάναιEssentially, this translates as:
μαστοῦ τε δραγμὸς καὶ παρεσκευασμένου
ψαῦσαι χεροῖν λειμῶνος
where it [the wine] can make erect this thing [his phallus],With the context of satyrs' proclivity for grabbing and groping human women and nymphs alike, this is functionally the same as saying "grab them by the pussy." Of course, this is not to victim-blame; Silenus, no matter his own history of less-than-consensual encounters, doesn't deserve that to which he's subjected. But addressing Polyphemus's actions (i.e., the rape joke itself) necessitates context.
[cause men to] grab breasts and touch what has been made ready,
the meadow,[5] with both hands.
Essentially, I think the solution is content warnings, when applicable: a lecture entitled "Abduction and Consent in Greek Myth" will probably not need content warnings, since the topics in the title should speak for themselves; conversely, it might be advisable to inform students of what "abduction" typically implied (or outright meant) in the context of satyr-ical comedy,[6] since much of the actual assault took place off-screen in a wink-nudge manner.
Oh also, since this is technically a review of the play itself... two stars, it was "okay."[7] I still prefer Βάκχαι.
[1] By which I here refer to the discipline of classicism, to wit, the study of Ancient Greece, Rome, and adjacent cultures.
[2] Yes, of the same family as that Zuckerberg.
[3] Ganymede's official role was for a while the position of "cup-bearer" to Zeus, which furthers the "joke" because of Silenus's (and satyrs' in general) association with inebriation.
[4] Both "sponger" and "pusher" are particularly interesting, especially because they aren't in the original: the Greek reads οἶδ᾽ ἄνδρα, κρόταλον δριμύ, Σισύφου γένος ("I know this man, shrewd rattler, Sisyphus's offspring"). A κρότᾰλον (krotalon) is a rattle or castanet, and δρῑμῠ́ς (drimus) can mean "sharp, piercing, cutting," "pungent, bitter, acrid," or "keen, shrewd."
[5] The word λειμών literally meant "meadow," but was also a vulgar euphemism for the vagina. A modern equivalent would be the slang meaning of "bush."
[6] Sorry.
[7] This is actually the first complete English translation I've read of this particular play; I thought the translation was fine, if a bit confusing at times (although that can be chalked up to ESL nonsense). There are a handful of translations out there—Percy Shelley even produced one in 1819 (pub. 1824), two versions of which are available on Wikisource for all to peruse (Shelley omits entirely most of the sexual innuendo, rendering the Ganymede situation only as "I would not leave this Ganymede"). I've also heard that the William Arrowsmith translation is good, but have yet to read it.