Tragedies of Euripides (Way)/Preface 2
PREFACE.
The plays contained in the present volume have been, on the whole, the least read of Euripides' writings. This is the more to be regretted, inasmuch as they comprise some of the most characteristic work of this poet, and as a knowledge of them is indispensable to a right appreciation of his genius and his influence. The Electra shows his peculiar methods in sharp contrast with those of Aeschylus and Sophocles: the Children of Herakles contains one of the noblest female characters in all literature: in the Daughters of Troy are some of the most brilliant choral odes in all the Greek Drama: the Madness of Herakles has been (unhappily for succeeding translators) already given to English readers by Browning in Aristophanes' Apology, as a representative play of Euripides.
I have not, in my Introduction, aimed at giving anything approaching a complete survey of Euripides' literary method and of the ethical tendency of his works. This would have been impossible within so limited a space, and superfluous, in many respects, for thoughtful readers. I have restricted myself to certain aspects of his work which, as it seems to me, have been sometimes misunderstood or misrepresented. These happen also to be the very features in which his originality is most marked, and in which he diverges most widely from his great rivals. An exhaustive treatment of our author would require a large volume, such as has been already given to French students by Professsr Paul Decharme. Euripide et l'Esprit de son Théatre is an admirable book, interesting and thorough, appreciative yet judicial, marked by ripe scholarship, fine literary taste, and original thought. No such work has been produced by any English scholar on any Greek poet; and, till some of our brilliant commentators shall cease for a while to "hunt old trails," and shall essay a task which has long been waiting for a competent hand, Professor Decharme's volume must remain, for English as much as for French readers, the standard book on Euripides.
Some remarks on comparatively minor points, as the dramatic relevance of Euripides' choruses, and his use of the deus ex machinâ, I have postponed to the concluding volume.
I have to express my grateful acknowledgments to Professor Tyrrell for most kind assistance in revising the Daughters of Troy, and for other invaluable suggestions.