Anyone know of a good student edition of Agamemnon, or a helpful commentary at least?
Hi Rindu,
Unless you can get a copy of Fraenkel ($$$), your best bet might be http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198721307/104-2513994-1193537
I don’t know the commentary, but I know its authors. They are both very solid.
Cordially,
Paul
hi, funny you should mention that, I just bought Fraenkel’s famous 1950 commentary off ebay a few hours ago (72 pounds 2nd-hand but well worth it). it’s massive, but has such good detail that lots of other commentaries i’ve seen on other plays refer to it.
there are shorter commentaries as well; one of the ones which came out after fraenkel, by denniston and page, disagrees with fraenkel on some points, so it’s useful for that reason. another thing which is useful is lloyd-jones’ literal translation; some of the footnotes come close to a greek commentary, describing greek metre and things.
you should know what you’re getting into reading aeschylus though; he’s the hardest author i’ve read, and the oresteia represents his mature skills. i found it useful to read 2 books on aeschylus’ style generally beforehand: one by Earp (who has a very pro-Aeschylus, anti-Euripides opinion) and another one which is online for free:
http://library.case.edu/ksl/ecoll/books/staaes00/staaes00.pdf
these books will prepare you for the mix of not-too-hard syntax, but image-filled compounds and strange expressions, in aeschylus’ later works like the oresteia, particularly in the choral parts.
also, this is just personal experience, but i’ve found the 2nd play in the trilogy, the choephori, much easier to read; there is more dialogue than choral, and there’s a commentary by Bowen which covers a lot of information useful for beginners to aeschylus.