Helen - Paperback

by Euripides (Author), James Michie (Author), Colin Leach (Author)

Transcending the literal bounds of genre, Euripides' Helen has been characterized as both a comedy and a tragedy. In this evocative translation by James Michie and Colin Leach, Euripides' delicate balance--in all its subtlety of texture and tone--is beautifully captured. The reader encounters myriad reversals, worlds--real/ideal, tragic/comic--surprisingly juxtaposed and, as in any story of Helen, the pathos of the impossible, all allowing Euripides to comment of the futility of war and the difficult distinction between appearance and reality.

Back Jacket

Among the legends of ancient Greece, there is perhaps no story more compelling than that of Helen. Her surpassing beauty was said to have launched the Greek fleet of a thousand ships to Troy. No woman was so adored and so hated. She was seen as both prize and scapegoat, the promise of bliss and the assurance of doom.

Author Biography

About the Translators:
James Michie is translator of The Odes of Horace and The Centennial Hymn. Colin Leach is a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford University