Electra and Other Plays

Electra and Other Plays

By Sophocles

Pages

256

Rating

4.13

Year

Description

Sophocles' innovative plays transformed Greek myths into dramas featuring complex human characters, through which he explored profound moral issues. Electra portrays the grief of a young woman for her father Agamemnon, who has been killed by her mother's lover. Aeschylus and Euripides also dramatized this story, but the objectivity and humanity of Sophocles' version provides a new perspective. Ajax depicts the fall of a great hero and examines the enigma of power and weakness combined in one being, while The Women of Trachis portrays the tragic love and error of Heracles' deserted wife, Deianeira. Philoctetes deals with the conflict between physical force and moral strength.