Orestes
By Voltaire
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
Voltaire
Born in Paris in 1694, François-Marie Arouet, who would later go by the nom-de-plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment philosopher, poet, historian, and author. Voltaire’s writing was often controversial, and in 1715 he was sent into his first exile in Tulle after a writing a satirical piece about the Duke of Orleans, the Regent of France. It was during this time that he produced his first major work, the play Oedipus. Although allowed to return to Paris a year later, Voltaire’s writing continued to land him in trouble. He was jailed in the Bastille two more times and was exiled from Paris for a good portion of his life. Throughout these troubles, Voltaire continued to write, producing works of poetry, a number of plays, and some historical and political texts. His most famous work is the satirical novel Candide, and many of his plays, including Oedipus and Socrates, are still performed today. Voltaire died in 1778.
Read more from Voltaire
The Philosophy of History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Great Love Letters You Have To Read (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candide: Bilingual Edition (English – French) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophical Dictionary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tratado sobre la tolerancia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCandide: The Original Unabridged And Complete Edition (Voltaire Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Candide: Illustrated Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Works of Voltaire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Voltaire Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVoltaire: Treatise on Tolerance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZadig and Other Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Candide: Bilingual Edition (English – German) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCandide (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophical Letters: (Letters Concerning the English Nation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Books of All Time Vol. 3 (Dream Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Orestes
Related ebooks
Orestes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Iphigenia, Phaedra, Athaliah Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Libation-Bearers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrestes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhaedra Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iphigenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Libation Bearers: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Liberation-Bearers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Phèdre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgamemnon: 'The sun shrinks from my face. I must away, That so he may bring back the light of day'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House of Atreus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paris Spleen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Oresteia Trilogy (Unabridged English Translation) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Libation Bearers: from The Oresteia Trilogy. "Of all the gods only death does not desire gifts" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAntigone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAndromache Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poems (1828) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHE ORESTEIA TRILOGY: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers & The Eumenides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sophocles: The Seven Plays in English Verse: The Seven Plays in English Verse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gods of Men, where the Spartans are Made Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSophocles: The Seven Plays in English Verse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Indian Princess: La Belle Sauvage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Two Noble Kinsmen In Plain and Simple English (A Modern Translation and the Original Version) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Euripides Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Thebaid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Illustrated) (Best Navigation, Active TOC) (A to Z Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Performing Arts For You
Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Star Wars: Book of Lists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: From Renowned Expert Dog Trainer and Host of Lucky Dog: Reunions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hollywood's Dark History: Silver Screen Scandals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifth Mountain: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dolls House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Strange Loop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Agatha Christie Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Woman Is No Man: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Orestes
27 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My tepid rating of this play is due in part to the translation by Theodore Buckley (this is the most commonly available one in the public domain) & partly due to Euripides' writing. I read this as part of the Kindle omnibus, "The Tragedies Of Euripides Volume 1" and also listened along to the Librivox recording.While the plot of this play includes a considerable amount of bloody action, it almost all takes place off stage. This is basically a "talking" play -- the various characters tell each other about the action rather than portray it. Because of this, the late Victorian style of Buckley's translation has a large impact on the effect of the play on the reader. I found that in some passages, I was drifting off even as murder and revenge were being discussed. I would recommend anyone considering this play to seek out a more modern translation. The plot itself is quite interesting, dealing with fate & punishment, revenge & murder.
Book preview
Orestes - Voltaire
ACT I.
SCENE I.
Scene, the seashore, a wood, a temple, a palace and a tomb, on one side: on the other, Argos at a distance.
Iphisa, Pammenes.
Iphisa
Sayest thou, Pammenes? shall these hated walls,
Where I so long have dragged a life of woe,
Afford at least the melancholy comfort
Of mingling sorrow with my dear Electra?
And will Ægisthus bring her to the tomb
Of Agamemnon, bring his daughter here,
To be a witness of the horrid pomp,
The sad solemnity, which on this day
Annual returns, to celebrate their crimes,
And make their guilt immortal?
Pammenes
O Iphisa,
Thou honored daughter of my royal master,
Like thee, confined within these lonely walls,
The secrets of a vile abandoned court
Do seldom reach Pammenes; but, ’tis rumored,
The jealous tyrant brings Electra here,
Fearful lest Argos, by her cries alarmed,
Should rise to vengeance; every heart, he knows,
Feels for the injured princess, therefore much
He dreads her clamors; with a watchful eye
Observes her conduct, treats her as a slave,
And leads the captive to adorn his triumph.
Iphisa
Good heaven! and must Electra be a slave!
Shall Agamemnon’s blood be thus disgraced
By a barbarian? Will her cruel mother,
Will Clytemnæstra bear the vile reproach
That on herself recoils, and all her race?
Perhaps my sister is too fierce of soul,
She mingles too much pride and bitterness
Of keen resentment with her griefs; alas!
Weak are her arms against a tyrant’s power:
What will her anger, what her pride avail her?
They only irritate a haughty foe,
And cannot serve our cause: my fate at least
Is milder, and this solitary state
Shields me from wrongs which must oppress Electra.
Far from my father’s foes, these pious hands
Can pay due offerings to his honored shade:
Far from his murderer, in this sad retreat
Freely I weep in peace, and curse Ægisthus:
I’m not condemned to see the tyrant here,
Save when the Sun unwillingly brings round
The fatal day that knit the dreadful tie,
When that inhuman monster shed the blood
Of Agamemnon, when base Clytemnæstra—
SCENE II.
Electra, Iphisa, Pammenes.
Iphisa
O my Electra! art thou here? my sister—
Electra
The day of horror is returned,