Biblioteche dell'Alto Adige

Abstract: In Libation Bearers, the second play of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, many years after the murder of Agamemnon, his son Orestes returns to Argos to exact vengeance on his mother Clytaemnestra for killing the king. Upon arriving, Orestes reunites with his sister Electra at Agamemnon's grave, while she was there bringing libations to Agamemnon in an attempt to stop Clytemnestra's bad dreams. Shortly after the reunion, both Orestes and Electra, influenced by the Chorus, come up with a plan to kill both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. But revenge, instead of bringing inner peace to Orestes, will become his condemnation.

Abstract: Kratos (Strength), Bia (violence), and the smith-god Hephaestus chain the Titan Prometheus to a mountain in the Caucasus. Prometheus is being punished not only for stealing fire, but also for thwarting Zeus's plan to obliterate the human race. This punishment is especially galling since Prometheus was instrumental in Zeus's victory in the Titanomachy. Prometheus Bound enjoyed a measure of popularity in antiquity and Aeschylus was very popular in Athens decades after his death. In the early 19th century, the Romantic writers came to identify with the defiant Prometheus. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a poem on the theme, as did Lord Byron. Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a play, Prometheus Unbound, which used some of the materials of the play as a vehicle for Shelley's own vision.Unabridged edition with an interactive table of contents.

Abstract: The Danaids flee a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins. When they reach Argos, they entreat King Pelasgus to protect them. He refuses pending the decision of the Argive people, who decide in the favour of the Danaids. Danaus rejoices the outcome, and the Danaids praise the Greek gods. But almost immediately, a herald of the Egyptians comes to attempt to force the Danaids to return to their cousins for marriage. Pelasgus arrives, threatens the herald, and urges the Danaids to remain within the walls of Argos. The girls retreat into the Argive walls, finally protected.Unabridged edition with footnotes and interactive table of contents.

Abstract: Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, comes home from the Trojan War. Waiting for Agamemnon is his wife, Queen Clytemnestra, who has been planning his murder. She desires his death to avenge the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia, to exterminate the only thing hindering her from commandeering the crown, and finally be able to publicly embrace her long-time-lover Aegisthus. An astonishing play about vengeance and pride, Agamemnon is the first of the three parts of Oresteia Trilogy.Unabridged edition with an interactive table of contents.

Abstract: When the shamed Oedipus stepped down as king of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, on the understanding that they would alternate the throne every year. However, after the first year, Eteocles refuses to step down and drives out Polynices. Polynices and the Argive king Adrastus gather together a force under seven captains and are about to attack the city of Thebes in order to claim the throne. Eteocles appears and warns the people, calling them to arms. Then he resolves to meet Polynices and fight with him in single combat. Both brothers die. The bodies of the two princes are brought on stage, and the Chorus mourns them, as do the sisters of the killed men, Antigone and Ismene, who alone are left of the royal house. The tragedy is now complete. A great play by Aeschylus, father of classical western tragedy.Unabridged edition with an interactive table of contents.

Abstract: Eumenides is the final play of the Oresteia by Aeschylus. It illustrates how the sequence of events in the trilogy end up in the development of social order or a proper judicial system in Athenian society. In this play, Orestes is hunted down and tormented by the Furies, a trio of goddesses known to be the instruments of justice, who are also euphemistically referred to as the "Gracious Ones" (Eumenides). They relentlessly pursue Orestes for the killing of his mother. Athena sets up a trial for Orestes in Athens on the Areopagus to decide whether he should be sentenced or not for the death of Clytemnestra.Unabridged edition with an interactive table of contents.

Abstract: Persians by Aeschylus is the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre. The story takes place in Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire at that time. The Chorus of old men of Susa are awaiting news of King Xerxes' expedition against the Greeks, and so does Xerxes' mother, Atossa, who expresses her anxiety and unease. An exhausted messenger arrives, offering a graphic description of the Battle of Salamis and its gory outcome. Summoned by the Chours, the ghost of Xerxes' father, Darius the Great, appears. When he learns of the Persian defeat, Darius condemns the hubris behind his son's decision to invade Greece. Persians is a political and a moral play at the same time, commonly considered the seminal work of western tragedy.Unabridged edition with an interactive table of contents.

Abstract: The Suppliant Maidens, or The Suppliant Women, is a play by Aeschylus.Aeschylus  (525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian. Translator: E.D.A. Morshead

Abstract: The Persians is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus.Aeschylus (525/524 – 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian.Translator: E.D.A. Morshead 

Abstract: "Seven Against Thebes" is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC.Aeschylus (525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian.Translator: E.D.A. Morshead 

Abstract: A watchman on top of the house, reporting that he has been lying restless there like a dog for a year, for so rules the expectant manly-willed heart of a woman (that woman being Clytemnestra awaiting the return of her husband, who has arranged that mountaintop beacons give the signal when Troy has fallen). He laments the fortunes of the house, but promises to keep silent: 'A huge ox has stepped onto my tongue.' However, when Agamemnon returns, he brings with him Cassandra, the enslaved daughter of the Trojan king, Priam, and a priestess of Apollo, as his concubine, further angering Clytemnestra.

Abstract: Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort to ward off harm. Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity.

Abstract: Orestes, Apollo, and the Erinyes go before Athena and eleven other judges chosen by her from the Athenian citizenry at the Areopagus (Rock of Ares, a flat rocky hill by the Athenian agora where the homicide court of Athens later held its sessions), to decide whether Orestes's killing of his mother, Clytemnestra, makes him guilty of the crime of murder.

Abstract: The Oresteia, a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father's murder.The only extant example of an ancient Greek theater trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. Principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation.

Abstract: Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort to ward off harm. Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity.

Abstract: The Persians takes place in Susa, which at the time was one of the capitals of the Persian Empire, and opens with a chorus of old men of Susa, who are soon joined by the Queen Mother, Atossa, as they await news of her son King Xerxes' expedition against the Greeks. Expressing her anxiety and unease, Atossa narrates what is probably the first dream sequence in European theatre.

Abstract: Prometheus, a Titan who defies the gods and gives fire to mankind, acts for which he is subjected to perpetual punishment. The Oceanids appear and attempt to comfort Prometheus by conversing with him. Prometheus cryptically tells them that he knows of a potential marriage that would lead to Zeus's downfall. A Titan named Oceanus commiserates with Prometheus and urges him to make peace with Zeus.

Abstract: When Oedipus, King of Thebes, realized he had married his own mother and had two sons and two daughters with her, he blinded himself and cursed his sons to divide their kingdom by the sword. The two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, in order to avoid bloodshed, agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down, leading Polynices to raise an army of Argives captained by the eponymous Seven to take Thebes by force. This is where Aeschylus' tragedy starts.

Abstract: The Danaids form the chorus and serve as the protagonists. They flee a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins. When the Danaides reach Argos, they entreat King Pelasgus to protect them. He refuses pending the decision of the Argive people, who decide in the favor of the Danaids. Danaus rejoices the outcome, and the Danaids praise the Greek gods. Almost immediately, a herald of the Egyptians comes to attempt to force the Danaids to return to their cousins for marriage. Pelasgus arrives, threatens the herald, and urges the Danaids to remain within the walls of Argos. The play ends with the Danaids retreating into the Argive walls, protected.