Description
Euripides (ca. 485–406 BC) has been prized in every age for his emotional and intellectual drama. Eighteen of his ninety or so plays survive complete, including Medea, Hippolytus, and Bacchae, one of the great masterpieces of the tragic genre. Fragments of his lost plays also survive.
Kovacs’s translations are in fairly literal…and yet very readable English prose. Both experts and generalists will benefit from the work of this experienced Euripidean scholar.
Kovacs’s translation is a tour de force… In general, the notes accompanying the translation, explaining such things as geographical and mythological names, are judiciously chosen, concise, and crystal clear… I have nothing but praise for [Kovacs’s] scholarship, and the lucidity of his writing, both as translator and commentator. [This volume] should be [the] standard translation for many years to come.
Over the past decades, Kovacs has published widely on Euripides and can undoubtedly be called one of the specialists in the field of Euripidean manuscripts today. He shows his expertise by a masterly handling of the introductions as well as of the editorial work… All in all, it must be concluded that Kovacs both in his capacity as editor and translator not only meets, but surpasses the expectations put on him. I can only agree with Kevin Lee, who concluded in his review on the two first volumes by saying: ‘I look forward to seeing the next stages of Kovacs’ important task.’
David Kovacs is Hugh H. Obear Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia.