Book Reviews!
are apparently a new feature at this blog, which I can never seem to get the energy to contribute toward. First is
Ajax, published by Cambridge University Press. The translation is clear and enjoyable, leaning toward the accuracy end of the poetry/accuracy spectrum. Little information is given about the translator, I suppose we are supposed to envision all of their Greek drama as one collective work.
I didn't think I would enjoy it, as the only Sophocles I had read in high school and at Emerson College was
Antigone, by far the most well known of all Greek tragedy. I read the Young translation, or tried to, but was bored to sleep by what appeared to me as completely archaic and totally devoid of the catharsis its famous for.
Of course, I was just a stupid 19 year old. I now like (though not love)
Antigone, and
Ajax is a similar story, except operating on a more famous myth (Trojan War as opposed to Theban cycle). The play is worth it alone in that it provides Ajax's own tale, which is a little bonus between the death of Achilles and the fall of Troy. There are pportunities here to stage great scenes of insanity and torture, which is a major reason why we like tragedies so much. Productions of
Ajax seem to be scarce, though.