Iphigenia at Aulis: Introduction, text and translation

Book excerpt: This is the first English edition with commentary of the play since 1891. Euripides died before completing this late masterpiece and it was prepared for its enthusiastically received first performance by his son or nephew. Over the centuries other hands have contributed to the text we now have but even so for the most part it shows Euripides at his finest. After Agamemnon has discovered that the Trojan War can only be fought if he sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia, we witness the break-down of the most dysfunctional family in Greek mythology. The characters are expressively and movingly etched; their confrontations are charted with unsurpassed dramatic power; their shifts and changes can take the breath away, especially Iphigenia's transformation from desperate pleading to a heroic acceptance of her tragic destiny.