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Sto caricando le informazioni... Ajax [in translation]di Sophocles
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. This was a great play! You enter the internal landscape of Ajax, all that he is thinking, feeling, and concerning him. The plays is expertly written and there is much to admire within its poetic prose. You also see the undaunted harshness of Melanus and the feel the tragedy of Ajax as it pushes itself onto other characters. Overall, an impressive play! 4 stars! Another Greek play about the Trojan War, this time from the point of view of Aias, a hero who has a dispute with Odysseus over the armor of Agamemnon. Like most Greek drama, this play raises questions of life, death, and fate. It is not as compelling as some of the other plays in the Trojan War group of works, but it is difficult to tell if that is the play or the translation, which modernized the language somewhat. It did have the benefit of being one with which I was much less familiar, so it was at least new territory for me. Overall, a mixed experience. On the 9th of March 2012 an American patrol was travelling through Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Of the occupants two were severely injured (I believe they lost limbs). Two days later, on the 11th March 2012, one of the soldiers that had escaped injury took up an assault rifle, left the camp, and proceeded to slaughter 16 Afghani civilians from two villages. This event hit the media like a storm, and as of the writing of this commentary, the soldier is up on charges and has made the statement that he cannot remember anything of the incident itself. The question that you may be asking is, what has this got to do with a play written 2500 years ago? My answer is quite a lot actually. In fact this recent incident in Afghanistan is almost identical to the plot of the Ajax (with the exception that the soldier did not kill himself whereas Ajax did). When I first picked up this book last night I was thinking that I would just read this play, which I quite like, and comment on it like I have been doing with the other Greek plays that I have read recently. However, my mind had already been triggered by some books that I have ordered from the US that discuss mental illnesses, particularly PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that appeared in Ancient Greek literature. A friend of mine at work has read one of them and speaks very highly of the scholarship that is involved in it. Another book that I have picked up deals with PTSD as it appears in Heracles by Euripides. However, I have noticed that there seems to be a lack of literature relating to a similar condition arising in the Ajax. The story of Ajax is that Ajax is a commander in the Trojan War and after Paris killed Achilles, there was a competition over who would get armour - Odysseus won. However it turns out that Odysseus (surprise, surprise) cheated and that Ajax should have got the armour instead. Ajax then descends into a fit of madness and begins to slaughter the Greeks' cattle, believing them to be the Greeks themselves. Upon discovering the truth, he descends into depression and finishes off by killing himself. There is more to the play than that, particularly when Odysseus then steps up afterwards and defends Ajax's honour against Menelaus and Agamemnon. The events of the play show elements of psychosis and major depressive disorder leading to suicidal ideation (you can tell I work in personal injury). The depressive elements are very clear, particularly when it is Ajax's honour that has been destroyed. As the saying goes, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a moment to destroy it. Ajax's fit of madness destroyed his reputation in minutes. However we note that with the exception of Odysseus, there is absolutely no sympathy for Ajax from any of the other commanders. As far as they are concerned he has betrayed them and his people. Ajax sees himself having no friends: the Trojans hate him and the Greeks hate him, and despite his mother and brother loving him, his guilt pervades him to the point that he has no choice but to fall onto his sword. Now, as I read through the English translation (with the Greek being on the opposite page) I noticed Ajax's illness being mentioned numerous times. I flicked my eyes over to the Greek, located the word, and indeed the word is Greek for illness. The play clearly demonstrates a recognition of mental illness being a legitimate sickness, and this was 2500 years before Freud. Further, as we look into other Greek literature, particularly Plato, we discover that there were systems in place that were designed to assist people suffering from mental illness: this being called the Therapy of the Soul. It appears that not only did the Greeks recognise mental illness, but also recognised the need and a system in an attempt to cure it. However, if we consider this play and Heracles we notice that the Greeks seemed to believe that the origin of mental illness was divine. This is not necessarily limited to the Greeks though since we see episodes of psychosis in the Bible and a recognition that demonic forces can be behind it. The main incident that I refer to is the story of Legion, where a man was banished to the wastelands because he was possessed by a legion of demons, and Jesus comes along, cures him, and casts the demons into a herd of pigs. In Greek tragedy, mental illness comes about from the gods fogging the mind of the victim. Athena fogs Ajax's mind in an attempt to prevent him from killing Odysseus, and Madness descends upon Herakles since he had completed his tasks, and the prohibition from harming him had been lifted. This is why I love to study the ancients. It is not because of my love of antiquity, but because it is clear that they were much more intelligent and switched on than we give them credit for. In Shakespeare's time, while there was a recognition of mental illness (King Lear suffers from a Major Depressive Disorder while Hamlet shows elements of psychosis, despite the fact that he is faking it). However, it is accepted and unchangeable. We see no attempt by Shakespeare to attempt to address it though there are elements looking at their underlying causes. However we cannot forget that, with the exception of King Lear, the other madnesses that come to mind (Titus Andronicus and Hamlet) the madness is faked. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Appartiene alle Collane EditorialiÈ contenuto inSophocles Plays 2 : Ajax + Women of Trachis + Electra + Philoctetes di J Michael Walton (indirettamente) The Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 5: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes di Encyclopedia Britannica (indirettamente) Britannica Great Books of the Western World (54 Volumes) di Robert Maynard Hutchins (indirettamente) Great Books of the Western World [64-volume set] di Robert Maynard Hutchins (indirettamente) Great Books Of The Western World - 54 Volume Set, Incl. 10 Vols of Great Ideas Program & 10 Volumes Gateway To Great Books di Robert Maynard Hutchins (indirettamente) Ha come guida di riferimento/manualeHa come guida per lo studente
Among the most celebrated plays of ancient Athens, Aias is one of seven surviving dramas by the great Greek playwright, Sophocles, now available from Harper Perennial in a vivid and dynamic new translation by award-winning poet James Scully. Still powerful and remarkably timely thousands of years after its creation, Aias is the moving story of a soldier returning home victorious from the Trojan War, only to discover he has lost his life's purpose. This is Sophocles, vibrant and alive, for a new generation. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Già recensito in anteprima su LibraryThingIl libro di Sophocles Sophocles' Ajax è stato disponibile in LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)882.01Literature Greek and other Classical languages Greek drama and Classical drama Greek drama and Classical drama Philosophy and TheoryClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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