Greek Tragedies

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Rebecca Abrams, Modern Classics. What if 'Iliad' had been narrated by a woman? Or transported to 1990s Northern Ireland? A generation of writers is reworking the great Ancient Greek texts for a new era. Financial Times, Aug 18, 2018 (in the sectionof Books).

Quote:

(a) Opening:

"Men must learn by suffering./ Drop by
drop upon the heart/ Falls the
laborious memory of pain,/ Against
one's will comes wisdom."

The first two paragraphs:

"So says the Chorus in Aeschylus's play Agamemnon, as translated by Louis MacNeice in 1936 under the darkening shadow of war. Today, with extremist politics once more on the rise and our modern democratic processes and institutions under threat, it is perhaps no coincidence, two and a half thousand years after they were first performed, that the Ancient Greek tragedies still speak to us powerfully.

"New translations and adaptations for the stage have proliferated in recent decades, and an increasing number of novelists are also finding inspiration in these ancient texts, drawn by their universal themes, timeless characters and contemporary relevance, be it politics and warfare, or issues of gender and identity.

(b) Last paragraph: "The enduring appeal of these great foundational Greek texts lies in the thread of human experience that connects us in both directions across the centuries. The success of their modern offspring rests on an author's ability to invigorate thm in new ways for our own times. Whether we can learn from past suffering, distant or recent, remains open to question.

(c) the last line: "Rebecca Abrams is author of 'The Jewish Journey; 4000 years in 22 objects from Ashmolean Museum.' (Ashmolean) [2017]."

(d) Illustration caption: An illustration after Flaxman of Homer's 'Odyssey,' depicting Penelope. Wife of Ulysses (Odysseus), carrying the bow of Ulysses to the suitors.  Bridgeman images.

choi

Note:
(a)
(i) There is  no need to read the rest, which discusses the modern novels.
(ii) Iliad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad
(The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer)
(iii) The city Troy is an English word (Ancient Greek: Troia or Ilion/Ilios; Latin Troia or Ilium)

(b) The Wiki pages below correctly lists the phonetics (British v American when applicable) of all words below.  
(i) Aeschylus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus (c 525/524 – c 456/455 BC; section 4 Surviving plays, section 4.4.1 Agamemnon)

English words of Greek origin pronounces "ch" like k -- such as school.
(ii) Agamemnon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agamemnon
("Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had four children: one son, Orestes, and three daughters, Iphigenia, Electra and Chrysothemis; section 4 Return to Greece: "Agamemnon's wife, had taken Aegisthus * * * as a lover")

My point in pointing out the section 4 is that American dictionary shows that the first syllable of Aegisthus is pronounced "i," yet they (American dictionaries) pronounce the first syllable of Aeschylus (and of aesthetics)
"e" though have "i" also (in real life Americans pronounce the first syllable of aesthetics "e").
(iii) Iphigenia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphigenia

(c) Louis MacNeice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_MacNeice
(birth name: Frederick Louis MacNeice; Irish; born in Belfast, died in England of pneumonia at 55 and buried in Northern Ireland with his mother (he had been divorced) )

The second syllable of the last name pronounces like niece.
(d) All online dictionaries (British or American) says the plural form of offspring is the same (but followed by verb in plural form) -- except www.merriam-webster.com and www.dictioary.com (main source: Random House Unabridged Dictionary) both saying offsprings are acceptable. Both www.merriam-webster.com and www.dictionary.com are American; but the former offers three examples where offspring (sans s) clearly means plural and not a single example of offsprings, whereas the latter offers one example without s: "Almost always these abandoned children are the offspring of vice. The Dream [by] Emile Zola" in 1888.

(e)
(i) Ashmolean Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmolean_Museum
(ii) Ashmolean
https://www.collinsdictionary.co ... sh/ashmolean-museum

The www.freedictionary.com (American) has the same two pronunciations, in the same order.

choi

(f) "An illustration after [1905] Flaxman of Homer's 'Odyssey,' depicting Penelope. Wife of Ulysses (Odysseus), carrying the bow of Ulysses to the suitors. Bridgeman images."
(i)
(A) John Flaxman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Flaxman
(1755 – 1826; British; section 13 External links: John Flaxman's illustrations of the Odyssey)
(B) flax  亚麻
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax
(fiber for linen and seed for linseed oil; "Flax was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent region ['9,000 years ago']. * * * In China and India, domesticated flax was cultivated also at least 5,000 years ago)
(ii)
(A) Penelope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope
(section 2 Role in the Odyssey: "shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads")
(B) Odysseus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus
(which is a Greek word, with Latin form Ulysses; king of Ithaca; The etymology of the name is unknown; section 5 Journey home to Ithaca: starting with the sentence: "When the disguised Odysseus returns after 20 years, he is recognized only by his faithful dog, Argos")  (But he had left 20 years ago, and a dog nowadays lives some ten years.)
(C) Ithaca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca
(map)
(D) Iphitos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphitos

had given Odysseus the bow.
(iii) The (f)(ii)(A) mentions 12 axe heads. Four concepts:
(A) Is There a Name for This Type of Axe Head? Reddit, 2016
https://www.reddit.com/r/Axecraf ... s_type_of_axe_head/
(U_P_G_R_A_Y_E_D_D: "In case anyone is wondering, this is from a digitizes scene from Homers Odyssey where Odysseus must string the Bow of Ulysses and shoot it through the holes of 12 axe heads in order to wed Penelope")
(B) SFFaudio Podcast #182
https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sff ... -books-xxi-to-xxiv/
(C) Odyssey, Book 21: The Test of the Bow. bulb, undated.
https://www.bulbapp.com/u/odyssey-book-21-the-test-of-the-bow
(D) The Odyssey. Somersfield Academy, Bermuda, undated
https://portal.somersfield.bm/carraic/the%20odyssey.html
(illustration No 7)
(iv) "String the bow"?
(A) bow and arrow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_and_arrow#Types_of_bow
("When not in use, bows are generally kept unstrung, meaning one or both ends of the bowstring are detached from the bow. This removes all residual tension on the bow, and can help prevent it from losing strength or elasticity over time. For many bow designs, this also lets it straighten out more completely, reducing the space needed to store the bow. Returning the bowstring to its ready-to-use position is called stringing the bow")
(B) Arcus. In William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: John Murray, 1875, page 126 (reproduced by LacusCurtius Educational Resource_.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Tha ... ts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Arcus2.html
("The form of the Scythian and Parthian bow differed from that of the Greeks. * * * [As for Greek bow] The bow-string (νευρά) was twisted, and was frequently made of thongs of leather (νεῦρα βόεια). It was always fastened to one end of the bow, and at the other end there hung a ring or hook (κορώνη), usually made of metal (χρυσέη), to which the string was attached, when the bow was to be used.  When not used, the bow was put into a case (τοξοθήκη, γωρυτός, Corytus), which was made of leather, and sometimes ornamented")
* Latin-English dictionary:
arcus (noun masculine): "1: arc  2: bow (arc-shaped weapon used for archery)"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arcus
* Scythians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythians
(map caption: "The approximate extent of Eastern Iranian languages and people in Middle Iranian times in the 1st century BC is shown in orange" with Parthia in red)
* John Murray (publisher)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murray_(publisher)
(was founded in London in 1768 by John Murray I (1737–1793), an Edinburgh-born Royal Marines office; Since 2004, it has been owned by conglomerate [Paris-based] Lagardère [which is French surname] under the Hachette UK brand)
* LacusCurtius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LacusCurtius
("For the ancient landmark in the Roman Forum, see Lacus Curtius")
(v)
(A) Bridgeman Art Library
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library
(Founded in 1972 by Harriet Bridgeman [1942- ; English]; trades [doing business] as Bridgeman Images)
(B) The illustration that accompanies with the FT article:
Penelope Carrying the Bow of Ulysses to the Suitors. Bridgeman Arts (item# 21694364577A).
https://www.art.co.uk/products/p ... -to-the-suitors.htm