Innovative, fast-moving, subtle in their characterization, Euripides' plays are continually intriguing. The three plays in this volume straddle the borders between comedy and tragedy. Alkestis is a moving "romance" with parallels to Shakespeare's The Winter Tale. Helen, an alternative version of the myth of the Trojan War, shows Helen, an innocent victim of her own beauty, hidden in Egypt by the gods while her image has been abducted by Paris. Ion presents a poignant picture of childlessness and the abandoned child. These new translations by J. Michael Walton and Kenneth McLeish are intended both for performer and student.
