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beeeenerys's review
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
midnighterbae's review
4.0
Like all Greek plays, there is lots of exposition and Deus ex Machina. However, Euripides does an excellent job exploring the human condition in a chaotic and sometimes violent world. Some of his plays even have happy endings (Ion and Helen). Trojan Women is a powerful look at grief. Helen makes one of the most hated characters in fiction sympathetic and human. Ion shows the flipside of gods having affairs and human perceptions of them. Bacchae is the best of the bunch and explores the irrational side of human nature. It also had an incarnation narrative centuries before the New Testament.
samble's review
4.0
The Bacchae is definitely one of the better tragedies I have read, though I will admit I wish I had read it before reading “The Secret History”
warmreapertea's review
4.0
Beautifully written, even in translation. It depends heavily on knowledge of works like those of Homer and ancient Greek mythology, but even with only a superficial idea one should be able to enjoy the plays for what they are. The aspect which made Euripides stand out for me personally was his use of plots which question the relationship between the human experience against godly explanations. His mixing of rationality and mythology is certainly worth analysis.
imliterallyawizard's review
4.0
Ion 4 stars // the Woman of Troy 5 stars // Helen 3 stars // the Bacchae 5 stars
starpalette's review
4.0
Ion (3⭐️)
Started out strong, I was pleasantly surprised at the acknowledgement of rape victims and the things women go through, but it eventually went downhill and the ending left me feeling unsatisfied, it felt a little empty and superficial to me. Still enjoyable and has some memorable quotes.
The women of Troy (3.75⭐️)
Not gonna lie, this was kind of a drag at first, nothing happened but suffering and I was waiting for the plot to move along. But then came Cassandra, Andromache and Helen to give this play a bit more plot. And I liked that! Helen was surprisingly interesting to me, they make you hate her and then she defends herself and it’s like oooh maybe it wasn’t her fault but then they make you hate her again. Even if she’s a little evil I like her. But yeah it was very interesting and dark to see all the awful things this war left behind, especially from a woman’s pov. I just really like plot and it’s hard for me to read mostly plotless things.
Helen (3.5⭐️)
That was fun! There was a stark contrast between the previous play, which was a tragedy that didn’t have much plot, and this play, which was lighthearted and had more action going on. I enjoyed it as an easy read, though I gotta say I’m a tragedy girl through and through. The plot was a bit predictable but I liked that Helen was the one that made up the whole plan for them to escape. Evil Helen is still a fave though. The take on Helen actually being in Egypt during the war was interesting, at first I was like “Well but that means the war was literally for nothing” but maybe that was the point... war is for nothing. Overall, it was nothing too special but I liked it!
The Bacchae (4.5 or 5⭐️)
Finally reached the whole reason I bought this book for. And holy shit... that was creepy and I loved it! Dionysus is one of my favorite Greek Gods, so I was extremely excited to read this. First of all, I loved the Maenads and their rites, they sort of gave me midsommar/the witch vibes. It was all very connected to nature and very creepy at the same time. The opposition between being civilized versus letting go and dancing in the mountains in a sort of hedonistic fashion is something very captivating to me, and it’s one of the reasons I like Dionysus so much. Wish I were a woman in a frenzy, dancing in the wild and drinking wine. MY DREAM ! Also, the scene were the possessed Theban women tear Pentheus apart limb by limb was chilling. Anyways OOOOOF don’t offend Gods folks! Or more that that, I think this play might be a lesson about letting your natural, free side flourish and not stifling it with reason and civilization. Or something idk. Everyone go dance in the mountains and let go and once in a while.
Started out strong, I was pleasantly surprised at the acknowledgement of rape victims and the things women go through, but it eventually went downhill and the ending left me feeling unsatisfied, it felt a little empty and superficial to me. Still enjoyable and has some memorable quotes.
The women of Troy (3.75⭐️)
Not gonna lie, this was kind of a drag at first, nothing happened but suffering and I was waiting for the plot to move along. But then came Cassandra, Andromache and Helen to give this play a bit more plot. And I liked that! Helen was surprisingly interesting to me, they make you hate her and then she defends herself and it’s like oooh maybe it wasn’t her fault but then they make you hate her again. Even if she’s a little evil I like her. But yeah it was very interesting and dark to see all the awful things this war left behind, especially from a woman’s pov. I just really like plot and it’s hard for me to read mostly plotless things.
Helen (3.5⭐️)
That was fun! There was a stark contrast between the previous play, which was a tragedy that didn’t have much plot, and this play, which was lighthearted and had more action going on. I enjoyed it as an easy read, though I gotta say I’m a tragedy girl through and through. The plot was a bit predictable but I liked that Helen was the one that made up the whole plan for them to escape. Evil Helen is still a fave though. The take on Helen actually being in Egypt during the war was interesting, at first I was like “Well but that means the war was literally for nothing” but maybe that was the point... war is for nothing. Overall, it was nothing too special but I liked it!
The Bacchae (4.5 or 5⭐️)
Finally reached the whole reason I bought this book for. And holy shit... that was creepy and I loved it! Dionysus is one of my favorite Greek Gods, so I was extremely excited to read this. First of all, I loved the Maenads and their rites, they sort of gave me midsommar/the witch vibes. It was all very connected to nature and very creepy at the same time. The opposition between being civilized versus letting go and dancing in the mountains in a sort of hedonistic fashion is something very captivating to me, and it’s one of the reasons I like Dionysus so much. Wish I were a woman in a frenzy, dancing in the wild and drinking wine. MY DREAM ! Also, the scene were the possessed Theban women tear Pentheus apart limb by limb was chilling. Anyways OOOOOF don’t offend Gods folks! Or more that that, I think this play might be a lesson about letting your natural, free side flourish and not stifling it with reason and civilization. Or something idk. Everyone go dance in the mountains and let go and once in a while.
wanderingbookish's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0